The Sorceror Games
by Fatalsam
Summary: A mystery kingdom hosts their own game in a magical arena every five years. Twelve sorcerers must compete in a fight to the death match where only one Victor can be named. What happens when Merlin is chosen to compete? *Story takes place between seasons 2 and 3*
1. Chapter 1

Albion, such a big land mass full of many kingdoms. It is said, that one day, Arthur Pendragon will reunite the lands of Albion alongside his advisor and protector, the most powerful warlock in existence, Emrys. There's Amata, Caerleon, Essetir, Gawant, Mercia, Nemeth, and many more. However, there are lands far beyond Mercia, and the northern Plains, so far away and hidden that no one has ventured to them in over hundreds of years. But there, beyond dangerously high mountains, rapid rivers, huge lakes, mile long plains, and kingdoms, just near the edge of the great land of Avalon, is a thriving kingdom. One that no kingdom knows about, one that rarely anyone has gone to. They have made no treaties, for they don't need to trade. They have everything they need from an abundant source of food, to the best warriors. There's a major factor that makes Camelot so much different from this Kingdom. A factor that has made this kingdom so successful. Something that the Pendragon's have tried to eradicate for years...

Magic.

—

Midnight is when the Kingdom of Camelot is at its quietest.

At this time, most of the citizens have finished their duties, the betrothed are sleeping together in each other's arms, the servants are in the deepest of sleep, even the crown prince is in a heavy slumber from the exhaustion of training and yelling at a certain idiotic manservant, who is also in the world of dreams.

Midnight is also the time when the bell rings once, which signals a time for the guards to change shifts, the perfect time for intruders.

It is the darkest hour.

—

A bright light formed in the forest of Ascetir, just outside the city of Camelot. Once the light retreated, what was left in its place was a group of five of the finest Knights.

"Ugh." Groaned one of the men as he rubbed his temples to lessen the soon to be migraine.

"Quit your whining Cade! It was a simple transportation spell." Replied another.

"Seriously James? You just transported us about 800 miles over Avalon and you expect me to feel fine?" Cade sneered as he glared at the sorcerer.

"Oh please, would you rather have spent a month trying to get here? You realize that we would probably all die trying to ride here. You know how dangerous it is." Replied another man.

"Who's side are you on Lucas!" Screeched I Cade.

"Is it not obvious? I'm on James's." Replied Lucas with a smirk.

Cade growled. "What about you Matthew?"

"I'm with James on this one."

"You little piece of-"

"Enough!" Hissed a blonde man with the greenest eyes. "We are here on a mission, there is no time for teasing, is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Understood."

"Yes Alexander."

Murderous eyes locked on Cade.

"Say my name correctly."

"Yes Alex." Smirked Cade.

"Better." Stated Alex with gritted teeth. He turned back around and and peeked through the trees. Just a couple hundred feet away were the gates to Camelot. "Matthew, who's the first name on the list?"

Matthew swiftly pulled a scroll out from the side of his belt, and unraveled the parchment.

"Well?" Asked an impatient Alex.

"It's a 21 year old male."

The obvious leader rolled their eyes. "Yes, all twelve of the people on that list are male and 21, "I meant, give me a name Sir Matthew."

Cade ripped the scroll out of Matthew's hands and turned around quickly. The other knight tried to get the paper out of Cade's hand but he just held it up higher, while trying to read it.

"Um, the boy's name is... Merlin."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What the hell is that?" Asked Lucas Incredulously.

"A potion I made." James hesitantly replied.

"A potion?" Cade gaped at James as he stared at the glass jar in his comrades hand. "Since when do you make... Potions!"

James scratched the back of his head, deciding if whether or not he should answer the question truthfully. "Uh- well- um, you see-"

"Go on," said Alex, "this, I actually do want to hear."

The knight dropped his hand and exhaled dramatically. "I started making potions a couple years ago."

It was silent for a moment before Cade burst out laughing. "A-a-a year ago? Ha! Your such a girl!"

James just glared as Cade continued on laughing. It got worse as time progressed and tears started to form in the humorous man's eyes.

"You done yet?" Matthew asked.

"Y-yeah yeah." Replied Cade as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The occasional giggle slipping out of his mouth.

"Well, James, what does this potion do exactly?" Asked Alex.

"Glad you asked, because this is our ticket into Camelot."

"Our Ticket into Camelot?" Lucas stared at James in disbelief. "How?"

"Well," The sorcerer began through gritted teeth. He was getting really aggravated in the lack of faith these guys were having towards him. "If you happened to smash the bottle to pieces than the liquid will turn to gas once it reaches air and whoever is near it will fall asleep instantly." He finished with a grin.

"James that's... Good." Replied Alex.

"You can't be serious!" Cade interjected. "We can't risk using something that may not work and might just be our deaths."

"Your lack of faith in me is astounding Cade."

Alex rose his hand to silence them, and once he had all of his knights full attention he proceeded to speak. "I trust James, Cade. When has he ever failed us?."

Cade opened his mouth to speak but soon shut it for a lack of anything to say.

A grin grew on Alex's face, and when he made eye contact with James, the sorcerer bowed his head in thanks.

"Well what are we waiting for? We have a sorcerer to kidnap."

* * *

Merlin woke to the sound of glass shattering. His eyes burst open and his heart seemed to skip a beat. He lay there still, not even risking to blink. His breathing became irregular but he tried to calm it as he listened to the voices outside of his room.

"How many of those god forsaken potions do you have!" He heard someone hiss.

"I brought four, but there's plenty more." Someone else replied.

"Be quiet!" A more commanding voice said. Merlin could tell he was the leader.

The voices got quieter but they were getting closer so Merlin could still hear them.

"Where is he?" One asked.

"He's in this room up here, I can sense his magic."

Merlin tensed up again.

 _'A Sorceror?'_ Merlin questioned to himself.

He finally closed his eyes and let his magic reach out to whoever the supposed sorcerer was. He instantly found the man.

"What is it James?" The leader asked.

"He's reaching out to me, he knows we are here." the sorcerer replied.

Merlin decided that was the right time to sit up, but just as he did so, his door opened a crack and something flew into his room. It landed on the floor next to his side of the bed with a crash. It was only too late when he realized what it was. His eyes rolled back and his body fell slump back onto his bed.

James opened the door wider and could only just see the passed out form of the boy named Merlin on the bed. The candle on his bedside table was the only source of light illuminating the room. When he deemed the room safe to enter, he quietly crept over to the pale, lanky, raven haired boy on the bed. The sorcerer just stared at the young man. There was about this guy that made him feel like he knew him. He felt the connection with the boy when his magic reached out for him earlier, something more than just kin. He noticed how he had some similar features to Merlin. They both had the same color hair and prominent cheekbones, but James was fit and lean and this person was skinny and weak.

"James?" Matthew quietly said when he noticed his friend looked like he was suddenly somewhere far away.

"Hm." Was all he said as he kept on staring at the boy.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? What? Oh yeah I'm fine." He said as he turned around to see all of his friends with worried expressions on their faces. "Let's just get him out of here before-"

* * *

Arthur's pleasant dream of living on a farm with Guinevere and having Merlin as his yeoman was rudely interrupted by the warning bells ringing after midnight.

Arthur quickly flung himself out of bed and grabbed his sword but before he went to walk out of his room he noticed the feeling of a cold breeze across his chest. He looked down to see a a bare torso.

 _'Merlin should be here by now to help me in my shirt, where is that idiot?'_ Arthur frustratingly thought to himself.

His doors soon burst open.

 _'Finally.'_ Arthur sighed in relief but that relief soon turned to annoyance when he realized it wasn't Merlin, but Sir Leon!

"Sir Leon." Arthur said as he stood up prouder with his chin held up higher.

"Uh- ah Sire." Leon adverted his eyes once he noticed Arthur wasn't dressed properly.

"What is it Sir Leon?" Arthur asked.

 _'Why does my most trusted knight always have to be so respectful? Wait, since when do I not want people to be respectful to me? Ah, stupid Merlin and his weirdly likable disrespectful ways.'_

Leon hesitated before he spoke, "T-There have been guards found asleep at the gates of Camelot and in one of the entrances to the castle."

"Asleep?" Arthur asked dumfounded. "Asleep and not Unconscious?"

"No sire." Replied Sir Leon. "There seems to have been some sort of enchantment to have been cast upon them. There is a broken glass vile of some sort near each of them."

"So, your thinking sorcery?" Arthur asked.

"It's just a guess."

The prince just nodded. "Very well, do you mind helping me in a shirt?"

"Pardon me your majesty?" Leon asked as if he hadn't heard Arthur correctly.

"Oh um, just go find Merlin for me, and send him here straight away." Arthur turned away from embarrassment.

"Of course sire." Leon bowed, then left the room in a haste.

Arthur sighed, then went over to his dresser. He rummaged through it for a moment till he came across an old red tunic.

"Easy enough." Arthur shrugged then slipped it on over his head.

"See Merlin." He said to no one. "I can dress myself."

* * *

When Leon burst through the physicians chambers room he noticed a sleeping Gaius on his bed. He knew the man was old but he didn't think he was that deaf enough to not hear the warning bells. His thoughts soon changed once he saw the same broken glass jar on the floor next to Gaius's bed.

"Oh my." Leon breathlessly said to himself with wide eyes. He quickly leaned forward to put two hands on the physicians neck and sighed in relief when he felt a steady pulse. But then it soon turned to panic when he realized the intruders went into this room, and if there is no sign of them rummaging through anything in here than that must mean...

"Merlin." Leon whispered.

He frantically turned around and ran towards his friends room. What he saw when he stepped into the room made his heart ache.

There, right beside the bed was another shattered jar of glass, and no Merlin to be seen.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N:_**

 ** _I hope you guys are liking this story so far, and I also hope you guys like my OCs. Alex is a big part of this story, and sadly Arthur isn't :(. He will show up and be mentioned a few times throughout the story but he he will probably be mostly in the end. I will try to update a lot, maybe every other day if I can but school just started and there's a lot of work. Anyways, this story has 170 views already! Thanks so much, this is my first story written on here! Anyways, pls give me some feedback and enjoy :)_**

* * *

"Sire!" Leon yelled as he ran down the hall to a frustrated prince.

"What is it Sir Leon? Where is Merlin?" Arthur asked as he approached the breathless Knight.

"Merlin. is. gone." He said in between breaths.

"Gone!" Arthur shrieked. "What do you mean 'gone.'"

"They took him sire, there was a broken jar near his bed, they enchanted him then kidnapped him." Leon explained with remorse.

 _'Gone?'_ Arthur thought to himself. _'Merlin's gone? My Idiotic, happy, self sacrificing manservant is just... Gone? Kidnapped? Taken from me? No, these sorcerers won't get away with it, I will get him back.'_

Leon watched as the Prince's face changed from despair to determination. That was never a good sign. Arthur briskly walked past the knight.

"Sire! May I ask where you are going?"

Without turning around, Arthur replied. "To report it to my father."

"Arthur!" Sir Leon yelled as he ran to catch up with his captain. "Is it really such a good idea? Your father could care less about a servant."

Arthur just glared at his friend. "You don't think I already know that?"

"If you don't mind me asking... why are you reporting this to him?"

"Well, I can't just send out Knights to search for Merlin, because as you clearly already know my father would never do such a thing for a servant. However, there is something that my father would send out a whole army for if he wanted to."

Leon's eye widened in recognition, while Arthur just grinned and nodded.

"Magic."

"Exactly, and then we will all get what we want in the end. My father will get a few more sorcerers and I will get back Merlin."

If only he knew it wasn't that easy

* * *

"Arthur."

"Hello father."

"I have heard about Intruders that have entered our citadel, have they stolen anything?"

"Yes." Arthur replied nervously.

Uther's fingers dug into the arm rests on each side of his throne chair, turning his skin a bright white.

"What did they take?"

"My manservant." Arthur responded.

Uther tried desperately to hide the smile that was forming on his lips. When he asked his son if they stole anything he didn't really expect him to say that.

"They took your manservant? Marvin?"

Arthur scowled, and his father raised his eyebrows.

"His name... Is _Mer_ lin." Arthur replied through gritted teeth.

"Watch your tone with me young man I am your King." He glared at his son.

"My apologizes your highness."

When his son apologized for getting upset over a clumsy, useless, servant, Uther nodded once in acknowledgment.

"Why would anyone want to kidnap that... Boy!" The King bellowed.

"Information maybe?"

Uther slumped back in an unkingly like manner. "That's right." He uttered in astonishment. "He's constantly with you and at our meetings so it's only logical that they would take him. A weak servant boy who would spill all our secrets with just a twist of his wrist."

Arthur clenched his fists as his father said things about Merlin that he disapproved of. Arthur had complete and utter trust in his friend. Merlin may be an idiot but he is nothing but loyal. He wouldn't speak even if it would be the death of him. The king stared off into space like it was the end of the world.

"Father, that's not even the worst of it."

Finally Uther's wide eyes settled on his son's again. "What could possibly be worse?"

Arthur gulped and took a deep breath before saying what needed to be said. Maybe it really would be the end of the world after all. "We believe the people that kidnapped him were sorcerers."

"What!" Uther's voice boomed as he bolted upright to the edge of his chair, causing his son to flinch.

"Arthur, send out as many search parties as possible, send all the Knights if you have to! We will find these animals and bring that boy back before he has a chance to say anything!"

He was panting by the time he finished.

Arthur bowed as the ends of his lips twitched upwards. "Your wish is my command sire."

* * *

After Alex and his men took Merlin, James put a more stable sleeping enchantment on him and then went to go get the nine other sorcerers whose names were on the list. They already had two from their own Kingdom and one from Camelot.

It took them all night to go back and forth between different kingdoms, but eventually they had all twelve sorcerers asleep together beneath their castle.

Alex put a hand on James's shoulder when he saw him stumble a little.

"I think maybe you should go rest, it's been a long night and you've been using powerful magic." The captain suggested.

James shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I need to be here for when you wake them up. They need a sorcerer they can trust."

Alex just nodded in understanding, but concern was still etched in all the man's features.

"Is everything ready?" A voice boomed as a man entered the room.

All the staff bowed to the short, light brown haired King as he swept past them, ignoring all but Alex.

"Yes father. We are ready."

The King smiled and clasp a proud hand on his son's shoulder. "You never cease to amaze me my boy."

Alex returned the smile before facing the others.

"Positions!" He ordered.

Guards sprung into action at the sound of their Prince's commanding voice. Each of the twelve guards stood behind a sorcerer. They picked up the person they were assigned to and put them into a position where they were on their knees. All sorcerers were held under the shoulders while their hands swung loosely tied up in front of them. Sacks were draped over each of their faces as their heads lolled down on their chests. Each sorcerer wore a thin metal bracelet around their right wrists, which were enchanted to stop their use of magic. Only James knows the spell to take them off.

"James, would you please." The King commanded.

"It would be my pleasure." James respectfully responded.

The sorcerer took a step forward and raised a hand towards the group of twelve.

"wæccan ærist." He whispered and everyone watched as his eyes turned a shade of gold.

* * *

One moment there was nothing and the next he's getting back his memories over the last 24 hours and it's quite overwhelming.

Chores, Arthur, Dinner, Glass shattering, voices, a weird smell...

He was kidnapped. That much he knew. He tried to calm his breathing and feel for his surroundings but he couldn't... There was something wrong. Something was keeping him from using his magic. The thing that made him who he was, was gone, what was left in its place was a vulnerable, weak boy. Merlin could feel someone's arms holding him up from under his armpits, they felt rough under his thin tunic... Chain mail maybe? When his eyes adjusted he could tell someone put a grain sack over his head. All he could see was orange from the candle lights that lit up the room he was in. The scratchy material of the bag rubbed against his nose causing him to sneeze. The jerking motion made him realize that his wrists were bound in front of him. When he concentrated on his hearing, he could hear the muffled sounds of other people groaning and moaning. Were there more like him?

He felt the sudden absence of one of the man's arms and then he felt pain on his scalp as the man ripped the bag off his head managing to pull on the sensitive slick black Raven hairs on his head.

He moaned as the pain deteriorated and squinted his eyes as they adjusted to the brighter light. He looked to his right to see nine people who were in the same position as him and then to his left to see two people.

The room he was in was fairly large enough to hold about 40 civilians, and completely empty except for the people. The walls were lined with dark gray stone with torches placed around the room.

He looked straight ahead and saw many people lined up against the wall. They were all staring at them, some with smirks, others with no expressions at all. Some looked like Lords and others looked like warriors they were so huge. The ones in chain main were obviously the Knights. Their capes were a forest green, a color he has never seen a kingdom wear before. The man standing in the middle of the room was so obviously the king if the Golden Crown that was on his head wasn't a dead give away. But it wasn't the King, or the muscular warriors that caught his attention no, it was a knight. A knight that looked so similar to Arthur yet he was so clearly different in every way. This guy had blonder hair, tanner skin, he was slimmer than Arthur but you could obviously tell he was just as strong. His posture told Merlin he was something more than just a knight, Captain? Or perhaps regal. His cape made his eyes greener than they actually were and the slight outline of bags under his eyes said he had been up all night.

It took Merlin only a moment to notice that the man was staring right back at him which caused the young warlock to quickly advert his eyes back to the King.

There was one question that really struck him more than the several other ones he had.

 _'Why are we here?'_

It wasn't long before some of the questions he had were blurted out and asked by those near him.

"Hey!" One of them yelled.

"Let us go!" Another said.

"Where is my magic? You took my magic!"

"It's the bracelet they put on our wrists! They've enchanted it!"

Merlin looked down and there it was. A thin silver bracelet that was wrapped snugly around his wrist.

"You kidnapped me!"

"And me!"

"Let me go!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"

"You are no king!"

"Enough!" Yelled the King who's voice was so loud there was no doubt it was enhanced by magic. The sorcerers flinched and obediently shut there mouths. While some cowered down, Merlin straightened up.

"Rise." The King Commanded.

Some sorcerers hesitated but once the men who were holding them from behind jerked them up they had no choice but to obey.

If it wasn't for the knight behind him, he would have collapsed to the ground from his skinny legs shaking so much.

Why? He didn't know, maybe it was because of the bracelet.

"Now that I have your attention," the King began, "I will apologize for bringing you here without your consent. I will also apologize for having to subdue something so fundamental to you guys."

If looks could kill, the King would be dead by now.

"However, there is an important reason for you all being here."

A few sorcerers scoffed, and received a knee in the lower back for their rude behavior towards the king.

"As some of you are probably wondering where we are, we are near the edge of Albion, far away from all your kingdoms so I wouldn't even bother trying to escape if I were you. No one has ever managed to leave this kingdom and survive."

"Then how did we get here?" A brave sorcerer blurted out, receiving another knee in the back.

"Teleportation." The king answered simply. "You guys are powerful, but I do not believe any of you are as powerful as the sorcerers I have."

This time, Merlin made the unfortunate mistake of scoffing.

He groaned as he felt a harsh pain vibrate throughout his spine.

"Do you beg to differ young man?" The king asked as he walked over and stood in front of Merlin.

"I do." The warlock confidently stated as he stood up fully, recovering from his back pain.

"And what is your name boy?" The king sneered.

"Merlin."

"Ah, Merlin... The boy from Camelot I presume?" He asked.

"The one and only." Merlin replied cheekily.

"I've heard about that place... and I have heard about that tyrant King Uther Pendragon, and his son, what's his name again? Oh that's right, Prince Arthur."

Merlin growled and jerked forward like a rabid animal, only to end up being restrained by the man behind him.

"Protective of the prince are we?" The King taunted.

"Lay a finger on him and I will bring this kingdom to its knees." Merlin replied as gold flickered in his eyes.

It couldn't not catch the whole rooms attention because no one has ever been able to use the tiniest bit of magic with the bracelet on.

"Doubt it." The king laughed, "But maybe you are more powerful than I thought."

"Oh you have no idea who I am." He replied.

"Just who are you Merlin?" The older man prompted.

"Let's just say this is one of my many names."

They stared at each other for the longest time before there was a cough, coming from the knight that looked just like Arthur.

The King cleared his throat and walked back over to where he was standing before.

"This is the Kingdom of Arudus, and every five years here in Arudus, we host the sorcerer games." The king paused for a dramatic effect. "That is what you twelve are here for. You will compete against each other in an arena in eight months time. You will be allowed to use your magic sometimes and other times you will have to defend yourself with weapons."

 _'Eight months.'_ Merlin thought sadly. _'Eight months till I will be able to see my friends again.'_

"Do not worry yet. From here on out, you will wake up at dawn and train till sunset. By the time the games begin, you will be stronger, faster, and smarter. The only downside is, there can only be one winner. One living victor."

Everyone froze. _'One Victor... Only one of us will come out of this alive.'_

"From the very moment you step foot into the arena, it will be a fight to the death match. You will receive more information about this later on but for right now, let's just get you guys settled in shall we?"

No one dared to speak.

"Alex!" The King called.

' _So_ _that's his name.'_ Merlin thought as the Arthur lookalike stepped forward.

"Show these young men to their rooms."


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: hope you guys are enjoying this story, I have sooo much planned for it that it may take me forever to finish... But I promise I will make every chapter worth reading :)_**

 ** _There is Arthur 1x01 irony in this chapter, comment if you figure it out! Anyways... This ones short, I promise the next one will be longer! We've got some Alex and Merlin in here... ;)_**

 ** _Enjoy and give me some feedback pls! Comment comment comment!_**

* * *

Merlin concluded that it wasn't just him who walked on shaky legs, it was all of the sorcerers. They walked in a straight line surrounded by guards as the group followed Alex. Every corridor they turned down was dim and dingy, only lit up by the many candles that rimmed the stony gray walls.

They walked down a long Hallway till they reached the end and had to stop, causing all the magic users to bump into each other for the lack of leg use.

"You guys will be a little shaky at first, as you can probably already tell," Alex began, "but rest assured that the feeling will ware off soon, your bodies are just not used to your suppressed magic yet."

More glares were shot at the prince.

"Well, these are your rooms." Alex gestured to the twelve doors on each side of them.

"Choose wisely. In each room there is a piece of parchment paper on your desks that will have the name of your trainer on it. When you have their name you will report to their room every morning at dawn, and will spend most of your days training with them till dark. You may receive the best trainer or the worst, it depends if your lucky enough."

One of the sorcerers raised their hands.

"Yes?" The captain called on the man.

"Um, will you be one of the trainers?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Alex sighed. "Because I am not allowed to. Only previous victors or warriors are allowed to."

The sorcerer just nodded.

"Well, choose my fellow sorcerers, and good luck." The Prince said with a small smile.

The sorcerers hesitated at first before they started to walk around.

There was a number on each of the doors, 1-12.

Even though his magic was still being suppressed by the bracelet around his wrist, he closed his eyes and tried to feel for something... Anything that could help him into choosing the perfect room.

He felt something, it was barely there, but it was still worth trying. Keeping his eyes closed, he let his feet guide him till he reached the front of a door. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal the number '7' in brass on the door.

Merlin was about to open the door when a voice stopped him.

"That's my lucky number."

Merlin froze, he knew that voice.

"That's... Nice." The young warlock said as he pivoted his upper body around to look at the blonde man standing next to him.

The edges of the prince's lips twitched up for a moment.

"I saw what you did back there." He replied.

"I'm not following." Merlin stated as his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

Alex rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You closed your eyes, you felt for your room."

"Oh." Merlin said once he realized he was being an idiot. 'That's something Arthur would say.' He thought to himself.

"Yeah," Alex said as he chuckled, "and I'm pretty sure it worked if you chose number 7, Merlin."

"How do you know my name?" Merlin asked dumbfounded.

"Well, you weren't really subtle about it when you were speaking to my father."

The young warlock gaped at the Prince.

"Are you saying that-that your-?"

"The Prince of Arudus?" Alex finished for him. "Yes, yes I am."

"Wow that's... Ironic." Merlin replied.

"Ironic?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." Merlin said softly, almost a whisper as he stared off into space, thinking about Camelot and Arthur. He was, however, taken out of his trance when another sorcerer walked in between Alex and him.

He put his hand on the doorknob but before he could open it Merlin blurted out.

"This one's mine."

The sorcerer just glared at him. "I don't see you in it."

"Well-." Merlin stopped short when he realized that was true.

The stranger just chuckled evilly and was about to open the door again when Alex spoke.

"He said the room was his."

The man tensed but reluctantly backed away after a moment. "It's all yours big ears."

Merlin watched as Alex opened his mouth to say something but the warlock cut him off.

"Thank you sire, but I think I will be going now." And with that, he quickly opened the door to room number '7' and hurried inside.

Alex stood there for a moment contemplating what just happened.

He didn't even know why he felt the urge to talk to the kid or tell him something so personal like his lucky number.

Ever since he made eye contact with him earlier, he felt a connection. What's even stranger is that when the guy stood up to his father, he felt the need to back up the sorcerer, and he's always on his fathers side... no matter if he's wrong or not.

"There's something about you Merlin." He whispered to himself. "I can't quite put my finger on it."

And with that, he turned around and trudged away.


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N:_**

 ** _New character and we are getting some questions answered! Hopefully this will clear some stuff up for you! And oh my gosh... 1000 views already! It's barely been a week! Thank you :)_**

 ** _Pls give me some feedback and enjoy!_**

* * *

He had spent a total of five minutes in his room until there was a knock at his door.

"Come in!" Merlin yelled.

The door opened to reveal a young servant boy holding a tray of different types of foods.

When the intoxicating smell of fresh fruit and seasoned meats reached Merlin's nose he was off his bed in less than a second.

"Is that mine?" Merlin blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yes master." The boy replied, refusing to meet his gaze as he set down the tray at the small wooden table.

Merlin's eyes widened as his brows furrowed together, "M-master?"

"Yes sir." The servant stood there awkwardly, his face down towards the ground with his hands clasped behind his back. "I will be your personal manservant for the time being."

"Why?" The warlock asked, trying not to sound rude but couldn't help it. Why should these people make him feel like royalty only to have him go into a fight to the death match in eight months? Why spend eight months training people to fight only to have them die in the end? What was the point to these games anyways?

The servant finally looked up at him through his light brown locks, confusion written all over his face.

"It is an honor to be a competitor in the sorcerer games, and such a honor is acknowledged and rewarded by pleasantries gifted by the king himself. You will receive special treatment in the next months until you take your rightful place in the arena."

Merlin just stared in horror at the man in front of him. This was not an honor, if anything, this was a disgrace.

"Is everything alright master?" His manservant hesitantly asked.

Merlin inwardly cringed at the words. This boy calling him master made him sound like he was a slave.

"Call me Merlin."

The boy stared in utter shock "Pardon me?"

"I said," Merlin began through gritted teeth but relaxed when he realized he didn't want to scare the young man, "call me Merlin."

"Y-yes Merlin." he replied.

"Good." The warlock replied with a small smile, "what's your name?"

If Merlin thought the servant was shocked before than he was totally in for it now.

"My name?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes." Merlin was starting to get more annoyed each time the guy in front of him repeated his statements.

"Uh... Okay, it's, Aiden." He stammered.

"Well, Aiden," Merlin began, "the amount of food here is way to much for me to eat-"

"I'm sorry sir, I will get you less tomorrow." Aiden replied in a panic.

"No." Merlin sighed, "you didn't allow me to finish."

"Oh, my apologies... Merlin." his servant replied, the hints of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

"What I was going to say was, would you care to join me for breakfast?"

"You want me to join you for breakfast?" Aiden gaped.

"Well, I don't have any friends here and I'm going to need at least one if I want to remain sane so... would you please?"

"If that's what you want then... Then of course." The boy replied.

"Great, please sit." Merlin gestured to the seat at the other side of the table.

Aiden did as he was told and Merlin joined him not soon after.

"Just dig in."

The boy finally smiled, a true, genuine smile and Merlin couldn't help but return it. He watched as the boys shoulders relaxed, letting go of the tension they held.

After a couple minutes of eating, Aiden broke the silence.

"You have training in half an hour."

Merlin quickly swallowed before answering, "already? I just got to my room ten minutes ago."

"I know, they just want you guys to start training right away. Well, I think today is only the evaluation."

"Evaluation?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, they want to see what you can do."

"Like what?"

"Well, they want to know what you are good at, whether it's archery, hand to hand combat, knife throwing, sword fighting, magic, and more, you choose and they will watch from the stands." Aiden answered, taking a bite of fruit. "I mean, you will be learning how to do all of these things later on in training, but they want to know what you need to work on. Your trainer will be there too."

"Where is this evaluation taking place?"

"The arena." He replied, "you will go meet your trainer first and then he will guide you to the arena."

"Oh that's right!" Merlin jumped up, startling Aiden and causing him to abruptly stand up too.

"What is it Merlin?"

"I forgot about my trainer, where is that parchment Alex was telling me about?" He said as he looked around the room. When Merlin spotted something white he walked away from the table and towards his desk. He picked up an envelope with the dark green royal seal of Arudus on it and carefully pried it open.

"Alex?" Aiden questioned as he walked over to Merlin, "as in, Prince Alexander of Arudus?"

"Yes?" Merlin didn't remove his eyes from the envelope.

"Why?"

Merlin lost patience and ripped the envelope open. He took the parchment from inside.

"Why what? He showed us to our rooms." Merlin replied as he folded open the paper.

"Is that it? He didn't like... Talk to you separately, did he?"

"He went up to me afterwards, why do you ask?" Merlin questioned as he read the name on the paper: _Lord Mason_.

"Well, he, well..." Aiden stuttered.

"Well, spit it out." Merlin egged on, finally turning his gaze to the boy next to him.

"It's just that no one goes and talks to a competitor, let alone the Prince."

"Why? Oh." Merlin said when realization dawned on him. "People don't want to get to know us because their-"

"Afraid to get too attached," Aiden finished for him, "which is why I shouldn't really be talking to you like your my friend."

"Why? Do you have such little faith in me Aiden?" Merlin playfully accused.

"What? No!" Aiden argued.

"Good." Merlin stated, "because I plan on walking out of that arena alive."

"I hope your good with a weapon because you won't be allowed to use your magic all the time." Aiden retorted.

"Well isn't that what training for eight months will do for me? Make me better with weapons?" Merlin asked.

"Training all day for eight months will make you better than you are now but not by a whole lot. Not compared to those who have been training for life. And to learn how to use every weapon skillfully plus getting you all fit first will take a long time, eight months will hardly get you anywhere."

"That's a nice reassurance." Merlin stated.

"Sorry." Aiden murmured.

They stood there, faces downcast, for a moment.

"Who did you get?" Aiden asked as he took the parchment out of Merlin's hands.

" _Lord Mason_." He read aloud. "He was our last victor."

"Really?" Merlin asked, somewhat hopeful.

"Yeah, there's only two victors who are teaching. The one from ten years ago and the one from five. They both lived here though, everyone else they found from other kingdoms didn't last." Aiden sadly said.

"Why not?"

"Well, those that are from here that get chosen for the games have been training here their whole life, like I said earlier, it's near impossible to become better than someone like them in only eight months."

"How many from here are in the games this year?" Merlin hesitantly asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but it was good information.

"Two." Aiden sighed.

"Has anyone from another kingdom won?"

"No."

"Wow." Merlin breathed.

"We should get you to Lord Mason, I will show you to his training room."

"He has his own training room?" Merlin asked as Aiden dragged him to the door.

"Something like that. And Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"After the evaluation, there will be a seamstress who's coming to measure you for new clothes."

"Oh, for training?"

"Yes. What color would you like your clothes to be?"

"I can choose?"

Aiden rolled his eyes, "yes, hurry, we have to go!"

"Ok ok, um... Black?"

"Are you asking or telling me?"

"Telling."

"Okay, black it is." Aiden said as he opened the door and left with Merlin.

"That was fast." The warlock said as he followed Aiden.

"What was?" The kid asked curiously.

"You becoming comfortable with me, at first you were so hesitant to talk and all respectful, and now your... Well-"

"Acting as we are equals?"

"What? No, we are equals Aiden."

"I serve you."

"Yes, I serve to." Merlin replied, a small smile forming on his face when he thought of his Prince, his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a servant too." Merlin answered.

"Not anymore your not. You are a competitor in the games, you are practically a nobleman." Aiden answered.

"Aiden, you said something earlier about it being an honor that I'm in the games, but I can't help but feel like it's the complete opposite. I mean, what is the point of these games? Entertainment?" Merlin asked.

Aiden just walked on in silence. He almost thought his servant wasn't going to answer him until Merlin was shoved into an empty alcove in the dim lit hallway.

"Merlin what I tell you may not be true, it is only a rumor but I feel like I should tell you this."

"What is it?" Merlin's stomach started to get an uneasy feeling.

Aiden made sure there was no one around to listen before he took a step closer.

"Like I said, only a rumor, but," Aiden hesitated, "there are people who say that King Edward hosts these games to kill off powerful sorcerers from other kingdoms. That's why only the sorcerers that belong to this kingdom win, because he wants to have the most powerful sorcerers from his land. These games can get rid of the others they put into it. Your probably wondering why they don't just kill you guys, well that's probably because he gets good money from the citizens when they pay to watch. He gets a lot of money, competition gets killed, and the victors are loyal to him to a fault. I heard what you did Merlin, what you did this morning when you challenged the king. From what I hear your quite powerful and it wouldn't be a surprise to me if he told the other competitors to all gang up on you at once."

"You seem so sure, are you positive this is just a rumor?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, but I believe it." He answered.

"What about his son, Alex?"

"We believe he will be nothing like his father but he tries so hard to please him, we wonder if he will be just as conniving." Aiden answered.

"Reminds me of someone." Merlin stated.

"Who?" Aiden asked.

"The man I serve." Merlin proudly replied.

"And who is that?"

"Prince Arthur of Camelot."

Aiden gaped at Merlin. "Are your serious? Your serving a pendragon? They would have your head!"

"Yeah, probably, but I protect Arthur, it's my destiny."

"Destiny?" Aiden asked in disbelief.

"Long story but I'm Arthur's secret protector and advisor, my job is to get him to the throne and be by his side as he unites the lands of Albion and restores magic back to the kingdom."

"No." Aiden breathed as he backed up away from Merlin, out of the alcove. "It cannot be."

"What cannot be?" Merlin asked, slowly walking towards him.

Aiden's back hit the stone cold wall and pointing an accusing finger at him. "You can not be him."

"Emrys?" Merlin asked.

Aiden gasped, "Oh my gosh, it is you."

"So I've been told." Merlin responded, "How do you know of me?"

Aiden just gulped and pulled back his sleeve.

"Your a Druid." It wasn't a question.

He nodded, "Yes. And if what you say is true, then you really shouldn't be here, and from what I'm hearing, Arthur Pendragon is this once and future king, am I correct?"

Merlin nodded.

"Then, there's only one way for you to get back to Arthur and complete your destiny."

"How?" Merlin eagerly asked.

"You need to win the games."

* * *

Aiden walked Merlin to a door that read:

 _Lord Mason_.

"When you go inside, there will be a set of stairs that you will walk up, and then there will be an area for training. We are currently underground, beneath the castle, that's where you guys are being held, but these stairs will take you to the private training grounds. The floor is grass but surrounding you will be stone that looks like the one's in these corridors. There is no roof which let's in the sun, it is how the grass grew. It's pretty interesting and I've heard we are the only kingdom who have such a thing."

"I can't wait to see it." Merlin responded with a smile.

"Good luck Emrys."

"Please, it's Merlin."

"Right," Aiden replied embarrassed. "Merlin."

"Thank you." Merlin said as he turned around and opened the metal door.

The first thing he noticed was stairs made out of limestone, and a light coming from the top. He ascended the stairs, moving at a slow pace as it grew brighter and brighter. Nearing the top, he saw the edges of green grass and a blue sky overhead, then he saw the tops of the stone walls Aiden talked about. The room was about a quarter of the size of Arthur's outdoor training field. All around were practice dummies, targets, a weapons rack, and more.

"Your late." The voice made Merlin jump back and gasp in surprise. "And... Puny."

"I-I" Merlin stuttered.

"The names Mason." The muscular man said as he held out his hand for Merlin to shake.

The young warlock nervously took it and winced as the man gave his hand a bone crushing shake.

"Merlin." He responded pathetically.

When the man released his hand, he held it close to his chest and gave a sigh of relief.

"Your going to be a challenge, but I can get you fit as long as you train your hardest... Can you do that?"

"Yes sir." Merlin responded.

"Great, we will start first thing tomorrow morning. As for right now, we need to get you to the arena for your evaluation." Mason said.

"Right, well... lead the way."


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N:_**

 ** _Longest chapter so far!_**

 ** _I love your comments guys! they encourage me to continue writing this story, and I just have to say thank you :) if you are confused about anything, message me or comment something and I will help you out. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Pls review, and let's get on to the evaluation!_**

 ** _Warnings: semi BAMF!Merlin, confusing chapter, and character death_**

* * *

The only terms that could describe what Merlin was feeling would be perturbed, distraught, troubled, and just generally worried. This "evaluation" was bothering Merlin more than he would of thought. The only thing he was good at was magic, and yet, he still didn't know all that he could do with his gift. He was supposedly the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth, he heard that he could level mountains and destroy citadels but he couldn't help but think if that was really true. Was that just an over exaggeration? Will he grow up to be the almighty and powerful Emrys that Kilgharrah prophesied him to be?

Merlin rubbed circles on his temple with thin, pale fingers. Everything was just so overwhelming, especially this whole fight to the death thing. Now that he got some idea of what the King's motives were behind this game, even if it was just some rumor, he couldn't help but believe it just as much as Aiden did.

He thought about escaping, he really did. However, if what the King said was true than he wouldn't survive a day out there on his own unless he knew a teleportation spell, but that would involve a whole lot of sneaking and snooping around. He didn't think that he had any time to do that anyways, considering this place had plenty of powerful sorcerers who were so loyal to their king... According to Aiden.

But despite his soon to be attempts of escaping, he felt, deep down inside, that he actually wanted to stay. If it's true that only sorcerers from this kingdom win, then Merlin wanted to prove them wrong. He wanted to win. Another part of him thought it was actually a great opportunity to learn how to defend himself without magic. With Arthur always telling him how useless and pathetic he was, he longed to become better, to become stronger. It wasn't so bad here though, they were practically "nobleman" (another thing according to Aiden.) so that meant that he is going to be treated way better here than he was when he was a servant in Camelot right? Wait no. Not _was_ , but _is_. He still _is_ a servant, he still _is_ Arthur's protector. Just because he wouldn't be around for eight months didn't mean that his job wasn't still in tact... he hoped.

The young warlock couldn't help but think about his manservant. He was so surprised to find out he was a Druid, but for some reason, he wasn't as surprised as he was about how the servant warmed up to him so fast. Too fast. It was, well, strange.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he bumped into something.

"Hey!" An angry looking guy screeched, his eyes burning holes in Merlin's skull. "Are you blind!?"

"I- I apologize, I wasn't watching where I was going." Merlin answered back pathetically.

The young man scoffed. "No, you weren't, but I shouldn't really blame you. With someone as weak and pitiful as you, you were probably thinking about how your not going to last even a minute in the games. I pity you." His expression was sorrowful, but Merlin didn't miss the amused glint in his eyes.

He was just about to retort back when an even stronger, more commanding voice, beat him to it.

"Lord Convoy, control your sorcerer."

The warlock couldn't help but be relieved that Mason had stuck up for him, but he also couldn't help but feel that it sounded as if they were some sort of property.

The man apparently named Lord Convoy, turned a murderous glare onto his sorcerer.

"Zylen," he growled, causing the young man to abruptly turn around. "Do not talk unless spoken to."

Zylen gulped, "yes sir."

When that was taken care of, Merlin took the chance to observe his surroundings. They were in a long hallway, looking as normal as any other corridor in this forsaken underground part of the castle. There were about six sorcerers ahead of Merlin, with their trainers which stood beside them, in a long line behind a big steel door. It seemed as if all of them were nervously fidgeting. That seemed to make Merlin feel a little better knowing he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

After a moment of anxious waiting, the steel door opened up with a loud grate, causing everyone's heads to snap up in curiosity. What Merlin saw made his stomach flip for the worse.

A bruised and battered young man who looked to be the age of every other sorcerer here, was dragged inside by two guards. Each one of his arms were draped over both guard's necks. The toe cap of his shoes scraped against the floor, as his head weakly lolled against his check. You could hear the faintest moans and groans omitting from the man, as he passed by. Merlin couldn't help staring after the three as they descended down the hall until they disappeared down another corridor.

He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. What the hell was he supposed to expect on the other side of that door?

"Next competitor come with me."

* * *

It was tiring, just standing there. But thankfully, Merlin had a lot of practice in Camelot, after all, he did have to spend hours standing by Arthur's side during feasts, council meetings, and just anywhere in general now that he thought about it. But all this thinking and worrying was wearing him out.

It's been a little over an hour since he got there. Overtime, more people lined up behind him, there are currently 4 people left with Merlin next in line. Mason stayed with him throughout the whole time, not breathing a word, not even looking anywhere but the intimidating steel door.

As if on cue, the door opened up for the twelfth time to reveal another sorcerer in terrible shape. Merlin swallowed the lump in his throat, and watched as they dragged Zylen down the corridor like they did to everyone else, with Lord Convoy trailing behind them.

"Merlin."

The warlock jumped a little even though his name was said in a whisper. It was the first time Mason acknowledged his presence since the incident earlier.

"Yes my lord?" Merlin respectfully answered.

"When you go out there, they will ask you to choose a weapon twice. You must be smart enough to choose your magic for one of those times. I recommend second, due to the fact that you will need your magic to heal you after you get bested the first time. I believe you are not good with weapons am I correct?"

Merlin just nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so." Mason replied as his eyes roamed over his body in a dissatisfied manner. Merlin shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I was the last victor, so I know what happens out there. I will try my hardest to train you for what you will expect but I can't promise that I can make you the best. What I'm going to put you through isn't going to be easy, it will be hell."

Before Merlin could even reply, the door opened once again.

"Next competitor come with me."

Merlin's heart beat sped up and his breathing became uneasy. He looked from Mason to the guard, then back again. All the Lord did was give a slight nod of his head. Not reassuring at all.

The raven haired boy took a shaky step forward. One step lead to another, then another, and the next thing he knew he was blinded... blinded by a bright light.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, he looked around to see what looked like to be sand. He'd only read about it in Gaius's books but sand is usually an indicator that an ocean was nearby, unless it was a desert, but sure enough, there he saw the outline of something long and blue a couple miles away. However, that wasn't what had most of his attention. It was the the massive arena that lay in the middle of the great big plain of sand.

"Follow me." The guard said, now walking towards the arena. Merlin obeyed and followed as Mason silently shadowed him.

As he walked, he kept wiping the perspiration that formed over his brow with the sleeve of his tunic. The hot sun was beating down on him, making it difficult not to just pass out right there and then. He slowly turned his head around and gaped at the castle that he just left behind. It was bigger than Camelot's castle, that's for sure. The stone was just as dark as the ones in the corridors, making the appearance slightly frightening. He faced forward again and once more wiped the sweat off his forehead.

* * *

It was sad, really. Was all that Alex could think as he sat high up in the royal balcony. Each sorcerer that came in good health, left the arena broken. They were all terrible, absolutely awful at defending themselves with anything other than magic. There hasn't even been one person who had chosen to use their magic as a weapon. All his father said was choose a weapon so the man had no choice but to choose something on the rack in front of them but still, they could've said magic.

Alex could tell that James was getting impatient. If one of the sorcerers chose their weapon as magic then James would have to fight them. Just like how every time someone chose a sword, then the Prince himself would fight them. Which all of them have chosen every single time. Didn't they know that if they chose a knife or crossbow that they wouldn't even have to fight at all? They would just have to aim at the target. Since the last seven competitors he has faced, chose a mace or a sword, they had all gotten beaten down the first time which left them in an unstable condition for them to then choose a second weapon.

Alex was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a door creaking open. He looked over the balcony railing, and sat up straighter when he saw who walked in this time.

Merlin.

* * *

When Merlin entered the arena, he looked up into the stands and met the Prince's gaze. He couldn't help but think about what Aiden said, about people not approaching them due to the fact of becoming to attached. But for some reason, Alex thought it was okay to approach Merlin. He couldn't help but wonder, why?

Mason left Merlin and walked off, probably to where the Royal family sat in the balcony. The guard led Merlin close to the wall, and left him there to stare up and into the eyes of the far away king.

"Choose your weapon of choice." The King loudly spoke, his voice was obviously enhanced by magic once again.

Merlin bowed respectfully, then looked over at the weapons rack that was against the wall of the arena, separating him from the stands. He walked forward and studied the weapons. There was a mace, dagger, sword, lance, battle axe and-

Merlin smiled to himself.

The young warlock walked forward and chose the crossbow. Right away, a servant ran out onto the sand arena grounds, and set up a target.

Merlin took a deep breath and raised the the weapon. He didn't really know how to work the thing, but he's watched Arthur do it plenty of times on hunting trips, and he thought this would be the least dangerous thing, well he hoped nobody would fire anything at him, and he was right. He closed one eye, and tried to line up the tip of the arrow with the middle of the target. He slowed his breathing and released the trigger. The arrow whizzed through the air and hit the corner of the circular target.

Merlin silently cursed himself. One moment the arrow was in the target and the next it was floating in the air right in front of his face. Magic.

He hesitantly reached out and grasped the shaft. Merlin reloaded the weapon and once again took a shot. This time it shot right past his goal and landed somewhere far away in the sand. This happened a couple more times till he finally got close enough to a bullseye.

"Enough." The king demanded.

Merlin lowered his weapon, as a servant ran up to take it from him.

"Choose your next weapon."

The warlock raised his right hand, and rolled back his right sleeve to reveal the magic suppressing bracelet. "I choose magic."

It was silent for a long moment before the king spoke once again. "Very well, James!"

Merlin's attention shifted from the king to the mysterious guy who stood up from his seat next to Alex. Probably a sorcerer.

The raven haired guy made his way down the stands, and disappeared, only to reappear as the doors embedded in the arena walls opened up. He stalked his way over to Merlin and held out the palm of his hand. Merlin laid his right wrist in the sorcerers hand and waited.

"ríce béon áyppan." James fluently spoke.

Merlin didn't even get to see the man's eyes turn gold, he was to busy gasping as his magic returned back to him. It was certainly overwhelming. Unbeknownst to Merlin, his eyes turned the brightest gold anyone had ever seen.

Once recovered, Merlin stood up straight again from leaning over, but James wasn't in front of him anymore, nor was he in the stands.

When he turned to his left, he saw him, a little ways down the arena, in a ready stance that could be only described as offense. He was going to fight.

"Begin." The King bellowed

"Ástríce!" Merlin heard James spout.

The warlock quickly held up his hand and with just a flick of his wrist, the energy blast dissipated.

Merlin watched the dumbfounded look on James's face. The sides of his mouth twitched up in amusement but thought it best to not let it show.

He took that moment of surprise to take his chance for a counter attack.

"Forbærne! Ácwele!" Merlin yelled, raising his hand, and blasting a fire ball towards James.

The other sorcerer didn't have time recounter with a spell so he just went for throwing himself out of the way.

Merlin quickly swiped his hand and made the ball disappear in a cloud of smoke before it could do any real damage to the arena.

"Oferswing!" James screamed, arm outstretched towards Merlin.

It felt as if a horse slammed into his body, causing him to fly back through the air and land roughly on his back. Merlin gasped for breath when the air was taken from his lungs. He coughed, and kept breathing in short gasps as he slowly struggled to get up, swaying a little on his feet.

His eyes locked determinedly on James who was taking the defensive stance, ready to block any of Merlin's attacks. But Merlin wasn't going directly to him this time.

The warlock kneeled on the ground as he raised his hand, hovering it face down over the sand.

"Ic þe bebiede þæt þu abifest nu." Merlin's powerful voice boomed, as he slammed his palm down on the sand.

A powerful earth quake broke out, causing those in the stands to grip onto the edges of their seats, while guards held onto the walls.

James tried to stand upright but the shake was to vigorous for him, resulting in him falling back down onto the sand.

Merlin took that as his que to advance. He started making his way over to the sprawled figure of James but stopped when he heard the angry Kings voice.

"Stop!"

Merlin's eyes turned back to its normal blue, followed by silence as the shaking ceased.

"Guards! Take this man back to his chambers, he's done enough." The king glared at him.

* * *

Merlin currently laid awake in bed, inside his dark and lonely room. After James reactivated his magic suppressing bracelet, being forcefully removed from the arena and returned to his chambers, he ate lunch, then was fitted for new clothes by a seamstress. Aiden and him talked some more, and then soon it was dinner, and not long after, Merlin decided to crawl into bed to get some sleep. He needed it if he wanted to survive tomorrow, after all, it was his first day of training.

He let his mind wander to Camelot. He wondered if anyone was looking for him. It had only been a day but maybe Arthur noticed he was gone and sent out search parties to look for him... No. Merlin thought, Arthur would never search for him. For a useless servant. But Merlin wouldn't be useless anymore, no. He will train his hardest, become faster, stronger, more powerful. He will win the games and return back to Camelot, to his family.

Maybe.

* * *

King Edward ripped his sword out of the body of a Druid. He watched in frustration as the boy took his last, pitiful, gasp of breath. The Druid fell to his knees as blood leaked from his mouth, then onto the ground, sprawled out on his stomach.

The King was mesmerized by the expansion of blood, that kept coming out of the boy. Soon a big pool of Crimson read formed.

"This is what you get for disobeying me." The king started. "I gave you one simple task. Spy on that Merlin boy. And for some sick reason, you decided to keep whatever information you learned from me, you switched your loyalties to a weak sorcerer!

A nobody!"

Edward was so outraged, that it wasn't until after he killed the servant boy Aiden, he realized he could have tortured him for information. He was just so caught up in the moment of being betrayed that he lashed out.

Deep down inside he knew his words were untrue. The sorcery was not weak, he had proven so this morning. He was actually quite powerful in his evaluation earlier that day.

"You won't survive these games, Merlin. I will make sure of that."


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N:_**

 ** _*Important* just to make things clear, this story takes place about a month after the great dragon attacked Camelot. This story is also taking place during the hiatus between season 2 and 3 during when Morgana was "kidnapped" in the show. My story is happening during that year._**

 ** _Long chapter! And lots of shocking surprises :) pls review! I love your feedback!_**

* * *

"Arthur!" Merlin screamed as he sat upright in bed, panting.

He heard the glass vase that was on his bedside table shatter. He looked in that direction, but it was too dark to see. However, what he did notice, was the gold flash of his eyes in the mirror across the room.

Merlin gasped, his left hand automatically wrapping around his right wrist. He kept fumbling with his sleeve, feeling around every inch of his arm. Nothing.

The bracelet was gone, it wasn't on him anymore.

"Bryne" Merlin whispered. He watched his eyes flash gold once more in the mirror, and then watched as the room around him illuminated. It worked, all the candles were lit.

He gave a small chuckle of relief. The warlock looked down at the bed he was in and threw the comforter off himself. Sure enough, the bracelet he was wearing was lying on the sheets beside him, or what was left of it. There were several metal pieces scattered about the bed.

"ásettan" Merlin muttered. He looked on as the pieces mended itself back together, and in no time, the bracelet was whole again.

He picked it up carefully and slid it back on his right wrist. Right away he knew it no longer worked, he didn't get the sickening feeling of something being taken from him. That dream he had, must of caused his magic to lash out. It surprised him, not even when Arthur was in danger in his dreams could his magic stay suppressed. Their bond really was, truly strong.

"Clingan," Merlin spoke. The bracelet shrunk in size, back to the same way it was before, fitting snugly around his skinny wrist.

He had to keep up appearances if he wanted to keep his magic intact.

A moment later, the door started to opened to his chambers.

"Hey Aiden, you wouldn't believe-"

Merlin's smile faltered.

"Your not Aiden, what happened to Aiden?"

There, holding a tray of food, was a servant, who wasn't Aiden.

The frightened young boy hurriedly walked into the room and put the tray on the wooden table. Another servant followed into the room, holding what looked like to be black clothes... His clothes.

"The-these are your clothes sir." The first servant hesitantly spoke.

"Set them down on my desk please." Merlin replied with no enthusiasm what so ever.

"Where is Aiden?"

"H-he is no longer in your service." The servant frighteningly spoke.

"What happened to him?" Merlin said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure, they just told me to take over his duties."

Merlin closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Something wasn't right. now that he had his magic again, he got his funny feelings back too. The ones that told him when something was wrong, and something was very wrong.

"Okay." Merlin replied, his voice dangerously calm.

"You have training in a few minutes." The servant replied.

Merlin grunted as he slipped off the sheets. When his feet hit the cold wooden floor, he had the sudden the urge to just turn around and crawl back into the warmth of his new bed.

He looked over at his desk and saw a bunch of folded clothes, all in the color black. The color symbolized a lot of things such as evil and death, but also power and mystery.

The warlock walked around his bed and over to the stack of tunics, jackets, pants, and shoes.

He hesitantly gripped the ends of his red neckerchief and lifted it over his head, discarding it on the floor beside him. He crossed his arms and took hold at the bottom of his tunic, pulling it up and slipping it over his head in one slick motion. Now he really wanted to get back into bed.

He let his hand graze over the silky black fabrics. Never had he possessed the privilege for such luxuries. These were clothes fit for a prince. If King Edwards motives for doing all this was to make sure they would stay, Merlin had no doubt that this wouldn't make anyone want to leave. But no matter what Arthur says, Merlin was no fool. He would not succumb to this tyrant of a king, and he will not accept the death that is so blandly expected of him.

Merlin looked down and observed his abdomen. You could see the faint outline of his ribs amongst the smooth pasty white skin. He took a good look at himself, to remember the boy he was before. At the end of these 8 months, he would no longer look like this. He would have muscle, and more meat on his bones, for he was being well feed, well rested, and well trained. Merlin knew his physical appearances will change, but physiologically, he doesn't know. He could only hope he'll be the same shell of a man he once was when he first arrived here. He could only dream.

When Merlin finally became more aware of what was going on around him, he noticed that he already had a raven black tunic on. He looked up to see his servant holding black trousers, obviously waiting for him to strip his old tattered brown ones off. For some reason he let his new manservant dress him. For some reason he let him pick up all his clothes and refill his goblet every time it was close to empty. And for some crazy reason, he let it all happen, not once taking up the responsibility of doing anything himself.

The warlock sighed, today was his first day in hell.

* * *

Merlin doubled over, clinging to his stomach while squeezing his eyes tight. He gasped for breath as pain shot throughout his body.

"Fight. Back." Was all Lord Mason said.

The warlock threw a weak punch at the lord, only ending up having it caught midair, and crushed in the mighty hands of Mason.

Merlin screamed.

"Weak." The Lord hissed as he hostilely jerked Merlin's hand away.

Merlin threw a punch with his other hand. Mason easily batted it away. "Puny." He spat.

"Argh!" Merlin yelled as he threw himself at the Lord causing both of them to go tumbling to the ground. It took everything out of him just to do that.

Merlin triumphantly grinned at the man pinned below him, but it was soon replaced with a look of pain as Mason slammed his head into the warlocks.

Mason flipped them over and pinned Merlin's wrists above his head, digging them hard into the ground.

Merlin kicked his legs frantically. The only thing he managed to croak out were whimpers.

"Your a fool for thinking you can beat me."

"Am. I?" Merlin rasped.

The raven haired boy kicked his leg up as hard as he could, successfully hitting Mason's crotch.

His trainer released his arms automatically and went straight to clutching his groin.

Merlin slid out from under the Lord and quickly got to his feet, stumbling a little as he watched the training room spin.

The next thing he knew, there was a searing pain in his left leg. His scream was loud enough to be heard all across Albion.

He looked down and saw a dagger sticking out of the side of his leg.

"Don't ever, do that again." Mason ordered as he stalked over to the injured warlock. He bent down and ripped the dagger out, causing another scream to be emitted from the boy.

The lord put his hand over the profusely bleeding wound, "Þurhhæle dolgbenn," Mason muttered, eyes flashing gold as the wound stitched itself back together.

"You have magic." Merlin uttered. He shouldn't have been surprised really. This place was filled with magic users, but he should have know considering he was a victor of the previous games, and only sorcerers competed. It seemed Lord Mason came to the same conclusion.

"You really are an idiot aren't you?" The lord chuckled. "I would have expected you to have at least put two and two together since I was a competitor in the games just like you are now."

"Right." Merlin shamefully muttered.

"I'm thinking we should hold off on the hand to hand combat first, you obviously have relied on your magic too much over the last few years to know how to actually fight physically. And well..." Mason prodded Merlin's upper arm. "Your just skin and bones."

Merlin scowled.

"So I'm thinking we should build you up some muscle first. Here." The lord said as he made his way over to the weapons rack. But instead of choosing a weapon, he simply picked up the sack of flour that had been lying next to it. He came back and plopped it in Merlin's shaky arms. The warlock stumbled a little but soon regained his balance.

"I want you to run laps around my training room with this sack in your hands. Do not stop unless your legs give way, or until you pass out. Stay close to the wall, and do not let me hear you complain." He growled.

Merlin gaped at the lunatic in front of him. One minute he's friendly and the next he's your worst nightmare. What is wrong with this man?

"Now!" The lord yelled.

Merlin quickly obeyed, and started running. He took a couple steps and already he felt as if his legs would give way. His arms were just as bad, the sack of flour was heavy and it's hard just carrying the sack, let alone running with the thing. He winced every time the sole of his black boots hit the ground, he ached all over from the previous beat down.

Merlin was generally surprised at how long he lasted. Even if it was only twenty minutes.

"I'll give you a few moments to rest." Mason said as he towered over him, a grim expression on his face. "Then you'll do it again."

Merlin groaned.

It was a few moments later when Mason brought a rope over and pulled him up roughly to his feet. Merlin didn't even protest when the lord tied the rope around his waist, he was simply too tired to do anything. He had a cramp in his side and could swear he tasted iron in his mouth but didn't think to much of it. Even the simplest of thoughts was too painful. He dazedly watched as his trainer picked up the sack of flour and began tiring the end of the rope securely around it. He dropped it making a low thump on the grass, and managing to make the warlock wince.

"Run." Was all Mason said. And Merlin didn't dare to disobey.

It was more of a jog than a run. The rope dug into his side as he pulled the lug of flour behind him. He could really feel the burn in his legs, but thankfully he didn't have to carry any weight in his hands. He couldn't even feel the weight of his own arms anymore.

He only lasted five minutes.

* * *

After a gruesome day of strength training, Merlin walked back to his room on shaky legs. He gripped onto the cold stone wall as he navigated his way through the corridors. He was told by his trainer that the king expected all of the competitors to dine with him tonight, as a celebratory feast for the coming of the games. He only had an hour to rest.

When he finally made it back to his chambers, he let out a sigh of relief.

There, In the middle of the floor, was a freshly drawn bath, steam emitting from water.

Merlin moaned in pleasure.

"Sir, would you like some water?" His servant asked.

"Yes, I would, thank you..." Merlin drawled out the 'you.'

"Eli." His manservant answered.

"I'm Merlin." The warlock said with a small reassuring smile.

The servant tentatively returned the smile, and went back to refilling a goblet with cool water. The warlock thirstily eyed the cup.

Merlin closed the door behind him, and slowly made his way over to the bath. He stripped down, not even caring that there was another person in the room, and stepped into the bath at a leisurely pace.

He sank down, and released another moan.

"Here you go Sir Merlin." The servant said as he held out the goblet.

Merlin reached up, and almost regretted taking his arm out of the warm sanctum of his bath. He grasped the goblet and brought it shakily to his mouth. Slow sips soon turned to desperate gulps as the cold, smooth water trickled down his dry throat.

"Thank you Eli," he said, his voice sounding hoarse as he handed the goblet back, "I really appreciate all you've done." And Merlin did.

* * *

It wasn't until Merlin was completely ready to go, that a page came in to tell him the King requested his presence.

Merlin let his servant guide him through the many confusing halls, until they came across two large wooden doors. The guards on each side opened them to reveal a large dining room. There was a long wooden table in the middle of the room. Servants were scurrying about, filling goblets, and laying out meals.

The sweet, savory smell of chicken filled his nostrils, making Merlin's mouth water. The Servant guided him to a seat with his name plastered on a small piece of parchment, which was resting on the table in front of his goblet.

The servant pulled out his chair, and Merlin took that as a cue to sit down. After all, he did do it for Arthur these past two years. Once he painfully sat down, his servant pushed him forwards until he could feel the edge of the table almost touching stomach. As much as he wanted to devour the meal in front of him, he thought it best to know what was around him first.

He looked up and noticed that most of the competitors had arrived. All twelve reserved seats were in the middle of the oak wooden table. Most of them looked exhausted except for two who were chatting a great deal amongst themselves. He made the conclusion that those two were the sorcerers Aiden talked about, the ones who were born in this kingdom. Merlin looked to his right and saw what look to be all of the trainers since Lord Mason was among them. Merlin leaned forward a bit and turned his head to the left. There, King Edward and his Son, Prince Alex sat with a few other nobles. James sat to Alex's right with three others who looked like Knights. They were laughing, looking like they were having the time of their lives.

* * *

"And then I let the rat go."

"You let the rat go?" Alex asked surprised. "What happened next?"

"Well..." Cade prompted, "then all of the ladies started to scream! It even crawled up one of the ladies legs and into her dress!"

The Knights doubled over, clutching theirs stomachs, tears threatening to pour out of their eyes from laughing so hard.

"And- and then, hah, the lady scrambled up out of her chair, only to slip on a tad bit water, and fall into a nearby servant who was holding a blueberry pie!"

The rest of the Knights went wild.

"Oh Cade, how do you come up with these stories?" Matthew asked.

"What!" Cade screeched. "I did not make that story up! It was true!"

"Cade," Alex began, "I'm sure if it was true, then we would have heard it by now."

"It is! I swear it! You just didn't hear about it because the ladies didn't want an embarrassing story like that to have gone around the castle. It would have been humiliating!" Cade protested.

"Your terrible Cade, you know that?" Lucas remarked.

A small giggle escaped Cade's lips, "Yeah."

Most gazes turned to James, they were worried for their friend.

"Your unusually quite James." Matthew said.

"Uh, yeah, well I'm just tired." James quickly replied followed by shoving food in his mouth.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked, "Or is it because of what happened yesterday?"

James's jaw clenched.

"Ooh!" Cade got excited, "what happened yesterday?" The dirty blonde knight asked.

"Nothing." James shot Cade a murderous glare.

"I don't think getting beat by another sorcerer during their evaluation is 'nothing' James." Alex taunted.

James turned his intimidating gaze onto Alex.

"Oh my, is this true?" Lucas asked astonished.

James closed his eyes and nodded.

"Who was it?" Matthew asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"It was Merlin." James muttered.

"Merlin?" Cade uttered. "The boy that challenged your father?" He now looked over at Alex.

"Yeah." Alex nodded, "He is the one."

"So," Matthew began, "when he said he could bring this castle to its knees... He was telling the truth?"

"No." James defiantly answered. "No sorcerer is powerful enough to do that. The Only one who is capable is Emrys."

Lucas choked on his water. "Emrys?" He spluttered, "You still believe in that myth?"

"It's not a myth Lucas." Replied James angrily, "he's real."

"It's a children's bedtime story, James." Alex said. "We've all been told it before. My mother used to tell me it when I was little, before I'd go to sleep. You know, the once and future king and Emrys, uniting all the lands of Albion where magic will be free to roam the land. It's a good story but it's nonsense. It's just something to give the children hope, only to have them realize that it wasn't real in the end."

"The Druids believe in it." James retorted.

Alex rolled his eyes, "you've been spending too much time with them. Listen to yourself! They got you all devoted to this prophecy that will never come to pass!"

"Seriously James," Cade spoke up, "first it was your father was a dragon lord, and now it's the almighty powerful Emrys is real."

"Balinor is a dragon lord, my mother told me." James responded through gritted teeth.

"If your father was really a dragon lord than where are your dragon lord abilities... Huh?" Cade promoted.

"Obviously it means my father is still alive, otherwise I would have gotten his gift by now." James replied, somewhat hopeful.

"It's been twenty five year James, and there has been no sign of your father." Alex said.

"He's still out there, I'm sure if it." James replied before he took a long sip of his wine.

"Or maybe your father passed away and his dragon lord abilities skipped over you and were then passed down to a brother you never knew you had." Cade said with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Not funny Cade!" James yelled. "Even if I did have his abilities or not, it wouldn't matter anyways, there's no dragons left."

"All thanks to that tyrant, King Uther." Lucas bitterly replied.

* * *

Merlin had no words for how delicious the chicken tasted. It was warm with so much flavor, it was delectable, and the warlock savored every moment of it.

Talk slowly transpired around him. It was more of bickering considering the sorcerers conversations went more like...

"Better watch your back in the games."

Or

"I'll kill you the first chance I get."

Merlin tried to ignore those statement and focus more on his chicken, but more threats and taunts were being thrown back and forth around him, it was unnerving.

His undivided attention to the chicken didn't last long when the doors to the dining room burst open, to reveal a deranged angry man, who was holding a dagger.

"You killed my son!" The man screamed.

The events that occurred after that were a blur.

The man threw the dagger and used magic to make it whiz through the air at lightning speed. But he was no match for Merlin.

The warlock abruptly stood up and held out his hand. The knife stopped dead in the air, an inch away from the face of Prince Alex.

No one dared to breath, for all eyes were on Merlin.

"No-!" The sorcerer screamed but was cut off by the tip of a sword protruding from his gut.

The man fell to the ground in a bloody heap, but no ones eyes left Merlin's.

Merlin put his hand down, and stumbled backwards, moving his chair back with him. His eyes changed from its golden aurora back to blue. The knife fell from the air followed by a loud clamor as it hit the ground.

Merlin never let his eyes leave Alex's shocked ones.

"You saved my life." Alex softly spoke as he stood up.

"Magic!" The King screeched, standing up beside his son, causing everyone to flinch. "He's not supposed to be able to use magic! Why isn't the bracelet working?"

James stood up next and made his way over to Merlin, his hand hovered over the thin silver on his right wrist.

"It's deactivated." He said astonished.

"Well reactivate it!" The king yelled, "and someone go get another one! We're going to put another on his left for safety measures. And once that's done, bring him to the courtyard for a proper flogging."

"Father!" Alex yelled. "He saved my life! If it wasn't for him I would have died!"

"James would have done exactly what Merlin did, that sorcerer just beat him to it." The king growled.

"Are your serious!" Alex's face was red with fury, "It was this close father!" He said as he held his thumb and pointer finger up, creating a little space between them. "This close! An inch away from killing me! There was no way James would have cast a spell in time! And Merlin," Alex pointed towards the boy, "didn't even say a spell. There was no time, but somehow he managed to stop it midair with just his mind. He's the only one who could have stopped it. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have an heir, let alone a son."

It took everything in the king to not strangle his son right then and there, "Fine!" The king spat, "he'll spend two nights in the dungeons."

Alex sighed in relief. Two nights in the dungeons was a bad punishment for someone saving the Prince's life, but it was better than being whipped.

Alex mouthed the words 'thank you' to Merlin before he was escorted away.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:**_

 ** _Surprise! Two chapters in one day?! What? Yes! I was feeling generous, and this chapter certainly was not worthy enough to be posted on its own day so I decided to post it today. :) I'm nervous about this one because I feel like it's not my best :/ although we do have Arthur in this one! Thank you for the reviews! I'm loving them and it's what keeps me from quitting this story. (Not that I will quit on you.) I may not be able to post tmr due to school but I will try my best. After this chapter it's going to better, I promise. PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you._**

* * *

Merlin was currently sitting, sprawled out on the straw filled cell floor.

He'd just woken up from a peaceful nap, only to have all the memories of what happened earlier plague his mind again.

He reacted only on instinct, seeing that someone was in danger. He will admit that he felt a connection with the Prince when he had first gotten here, not because he looked similar to Arthur, but just for some random reason that he didn't know. Maybe this was part of his destiny too, to meet these people, to meet Alex. He had saved the Prince's life, only to be sentenced to a flogging. But thankfully, the Arudus Prince was able to talk his father out of such a gruesome sentence.

Merlin chuckled, it was quite funny if you thought about it. This was exactly what had happened when he saved Arthur's life for the first time. There was a feast, a dagger, revenge for the King having killed someone's son. Only back in Camelot, he was rewarded the position of the King's manservant, but here, he was rewarded with two nights in the dungeons. Merlin couldn't help but wonder who the man's son was. After James had reactivated the bracelet, and the guards were escorting him out of the room, he happened to glance at the sorcerer, only to find out he had a Druidic symbol on the inside of his wrist.

Merlin shuddered at the memory. Druids were peaceful people, and to see one become so rabid, it was shocking. He understood though, after all, the king had murdered his son, and even if Merlin wasn't there to know if he actually did it or not, he couldn't help but believe the man. The King was worse than Uther, and that said a lot.

Merlin looked down at both of his wrists, noting how the bracelets on each of his arms were fitting a little too snugly. Precautions, Merlin thought, because he was such an evil sorcerer that he had to wear two. He just hoped that he could be able to get another bad dream before the eight months end, resulting in the same thing that happened yesterday morning. Having two bracelets on, if even possible, suppressed his magic down even further out of reach.

Merlin's head snapped up at the creaking sound of a door opening.

He heard footfalls, getting louder and louder as the person neared. He watched as a small light become brighter and brighter, until there was a person standing there, in front of his cell. He held up a hand and squinted his eyes, trying to block as much as the bright light as he could out of the way.

When his vision became used to the brightness, his eyes focused on a blonde haired man.

"Alex?" Merlin asked, he didn't mean to, but his voice came out more like a whimper.

"Hello Merlin." Alex softly spoke.

Merlin finally lowered his hand, and the two stared at each other for a few moments.

Alex's face was blank, showing no emotion at all, but having worked with Arthur all his life and receiving the same treatment, he could tell just by looking into his eyes that they were full of sorrow.

"You," Alex cleared his throat, "you saved my life last night, and I just wanted to thank you."

When Alex's voice cracked, his mask faltered. Maybe the connection that Merlin was feeling with this man was mutual.

"It was purely instinct." Merlin responded, somewhat more weakly than intended.

"Yes, well, if that is merely instinct, then you must be quite powerful." Alex suggested.

Merlin questioned himself. Was this Prince trustworthy? He obviously defied his father for him, and Merlin did feel like he could tell this man his deepest, darkest secrets and he wouldn't tell a soul... So, should he?

"You saw a little of what I could do during my evaluation." Merlin responded.

Alex just nodded. "Your bracelet," he began, pointing to Merlin's right wrist, "How did you deactivate it?"

"I didn't," Merlin muttered, but seeing Alex's confused expression he decided to go on, "I had a bad dream the previous night, and woke up to a vase shattering. I realized it was me when I saw my eyes turned gold in the mirror. When I conjured the candle lights to turn on, I found the metal bracelet in pieces."

"Just from a dream?" Alex asked in awe.

"Yes."

There was another long period of silence. "I'm sorry."

Merlin was taken aback. It was so very rare that anyone of nobility said they were sorry to him, he was so used to getting the cold shoulder that he didn't realize his mouth was hanging open until Alex began to chuckle.

"Surprised huh? That a Prince like me would apologize?" Alex said, "Well, I'm not the stuck up Prince everyone seems to think me as. Never judge someone you don't know."

Why couldn't Arthur be more like this? He thought.

"Sorry for what?" Merlin asked.

"For you having to be held here. You saved my life, that deserves an award not," he gestured, waving around with his free hand, "being stuck in a dirty prison cell, suffering."

"Well, on the bright side, at least I get a free day to recover from my beating yesterday." The warlock replied, trying to make a joke. However it did the complete opposite.

"Beating?" Alex asked, concern etched all over his facial features.

"No, no," Merlin reassured him, waving his hands frantically, "the brutality in training yesterday."

"Oh," Alex replied, still not thinking the situation funny.

"Yeah." Merlin awkwardly replied, just to fill the silence.

"Merlin?" Alex muttered.

"Yes, Alex?"

"Thank you, it's not everyday that someone would be willing to put themselves to save another. Let alone, the person that practically kidnapped you."

"You kidnapped me?"

"Well," Alex began, not really knowing how to respond to that, "fathers orders."

Merlin chucked, "your like a friend I used to know." Woah, when did I start using Arthur in the past tense?

"Really?" Alex replied, sounding interested, "and who was this friend of yours?"

"Someone who I used to always save, just like how I saved you." Merlin replied.

A genuine smile appeared on Alex's face before he turned and walked away, leaving behind a Warlock to think about his friend.

* * *

Today is the third day. That means it has been three days that the Camelot Prince has been looking for his idiot of a manservant. Three days and no sigh of him, no clue, and no idea of who took him.

Arthur was frustrated, he was angry, his friend was kidnapped and there was nothing he could do about it.

He was also confused. What could they possible want with Merlin? He was only just a servant. He had thought about his earlier theory, of the sorcerers taking him for information, but for some reason, he didn't feel like that was why. He felt as if there was something more here, something that was out of their reach.

Arthur shook those negative thoughts away. No, he told himself. He will find Merlin, and he will not rest until he did.

First it was Morgana, and now Merlin. (Although he would never admit it) Other than his father, they were the two most important people in the Prince's life and they were both taken from him. What higher power had so much against him?

Arthur was currently walking back into castle from a long day of searching, when he heard someone crying. He looked to his right and sure enough, there was Guinevere, crying on the stone steps, leading up into the citadel. He thought about going to her, to comfort her, but being with her just reminded him of Merlin. After all, he was the one who encouraged him to pursue her in the first place, he just felt like it wouldn't be right without him here. So he just trudged on. If Merlin wasn't happy then he couldn't be happy, that's what he decided. That's what he told himself, but deep down inside he just wanted to push everyone away. He wanted to strip himself of his title, curl up into a ball and stay in his room all day long, alone. For some reason, ever since Merlin was taken from him, he felt like half of his soul was taken too. If he couldn't protect his best friend, practically his brother in all but blood, then he didn't deserve to be a Prince.

He could hear Merlin's voice in his head now,

"Your supercilious prat! There's no one who would be a better king than you."

Arthur smiled, the first true smile that had formed on his lips since the incident two nights ago. He never realized how much he depended on the idiot's encouraging words till now, and oh, how much he missed their endless banter.

Before he knew it, he was standing outside of his chamber doors.

Arthur was in denial. He hadn't changed his clothes ever since the first day of their search, and he hadn't even talked to Gaius. It just reminded him too much of the big eared boy he was missing.

He opened his doors, only to witness something he never wanted to see.

"Who are you?" Arthur growled, causing the replacement servant to jump.

"I-I am your new manservant s-sire, King's orders." The boy stammered.

Arthur had a murderous glare on the boy.

Of course, he thought, his father would do something like this.

"You. Are. Not. My. New. Manservant." Arthur said sternly as he prodded the boys chest with his finger each time he said a new word. The boy ended up backing into the wall. "You are temporary, only until Merlin comes back to fulfill his duties again."

The servant just gulped, and nodded his head frantically, "yes, of course sire."

"Good." Arthur replied, "Now go make me a bath, and then when your finished with that, go much out the stables."

"But I've already done that today." The servant replied nervously.

Arthur's nostrils flared, and if looks could kill, his temporary manservant would be dead. "Well then do it again." He growled.

The next thing he knew, the servant was out of his sight.

"Much better." Arthur smiled to himself.

* * *

The next time Merlin saw Alex, it was the morning of the fourth day. He was finally being released.

The sound of keys rattling was like music to the Raven haired boys ears, and when Alex appeared, well, it was even better.

"Alex!" Merlin greeted the Prince with a toothy smile.

Alex chuckled, "Hello Merlin, excited to be released?"

"Very." The warlock replied as he stood up.

The Prince inserted the key, and opened up the door. Merlin sighed with relief.

"Your not off the hook just yet, you still have another day of training to go through."

Merlin groaned, "Ugh, don't remind me."

Alex just laughed, and Merlin shot him a glare.

"Don't you have Knights to train or something?" Merlin retorted.

Alex sobered up real quick after that.

"Don't remind me." He grumbled.

It was Merlin's turn to laugh now.

"Hey Alex?" Merlin asked.

"Hm?"

"Do you know who that sorcerers son was? You know, the guy that tried to kill you?"

Alex thought for a moment. "I found out his name yesterday but I forgot, I think it started with an A."

"Aiden?" Merlin hoped he wouldn't say yes.

"Yeah! That's it! Wait... How did you know that?" Alex asked.

"He was my manservant on the first day, and then the next day, I was assigned a new one. I got a weird feeling and just knew something was wrong. Aiden was a Druid and so was that man who tried to hurt you, that's when I put the two together, it made sense."

"I'm sorry Merlin." Alex replied.

"Yeah, me too." Merlin muttered. "Did your father really kill him?"

"Sadly yes, but he wasn't innocent. According to my father he had switched loyalties to someone else. He was a threat to this kingdom."

Merlin's heart skipped a beat. Druids had always thought of him as their lord, as their king. The druids are loyal to Emrys, which made Aiden loyal to him too. He's the reason Aiden's dead. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"I killed him." Merlin whispered.

The Prince noticed the sudden change of emotion on the warlock's face. "Merlin, are you alright?" Alex asked as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I have to go, thank you by the way, for releasing me." Merlin slipped out of Alex's grasp and walked away. Aiden wanted him to win these games, no, he needed him to, and that is exactly what he was going to do. He was more determined then ever.

* * *

He couldn't breathe. He struggled hard against the hands that held his head under water, but their grip was too strong.

He hated this feeling. The feeling of panic, of fight or flight. He craved oxygen.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a hand gripped onto his hair and pulled it back.

Merlin gasped and began to breath heavily, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible before being pushed under again. After a moment his head was forced back under, he tried not to think about it, tried to hold his breath for while but he was already so tired that it didn't take long for him to want to gain back access to the oxygen. He struggled against Lord Mason again.

Finally, he was yanked back up.

He coughed, and water came spluttering out, followed by retching sounds emitting from the back of Merlin's throat.

"You have to be able to hold your breath for longer." Mason stated.

"Why?" Merlin croaked out.

"Because, anything can happen in the games. King Edward has powerful sorcerers who will control the game, and when I was a competitor, they had water fill up in the arena. And when they do it again this year, people will start to drown each other, The only reason I didn't die was because I was able to hold my breath for awhile, just in time to be able to fight my way back up. You need to be prepared. My trainer did this to me, and now I will do it to you."

Without warning, Mason dunked Merlin's head back into the water basin.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_

 _ **I finally posted chapter 9! This ones pretty long, you guys deserve it for the wait! Involves Merlin!Whump and lots of Malex :) (yes I made a ship name don't judge lol) anyway, I really hope you like it and I'm kinda excited for you to see what I wrote at the end, good things to come! Thank you for everything! 2k views wow! Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter!**_

* * *

"Faster!" Lord Mason cried, "I said faster!"

Two weeks, that's how long it's been since Merlin arrived at The Kingdom of Arudus. Two weeks of the same thing; wake up, eat, train, eat, sleep, and repeat. Two weeks since all Mason has made him do was strength training. Apparently, Merlin wasn't allowed to use a sword, mace, dagger, or lance until he's redeemed 'fit enough' by Mason. But judging by the way the Lord keeps telling him he's making little progress, he realizes that he probably won't be allowed to pick up a sword till the end of those eight months. Merlin shook away those negative thoughts as he continued running laps around the private training grounds. The only thing he's grateful for today is that there's not a hot sun out, just clouds, with a small breeze. He made a mental note to thank the gods later.

Merlin hated running, almost as much as he despised the sack of flour. He always made sure to give it a proper glare before he started his training, it deserved it.

When Alex released Merlin from the dungeons on the fourth day, despite Merlin's relief from having to sleep on a straw floor, part of him wished he hadn't been released at all. When he reported to his trainer that day, apparently Mason had a bunch of new ways to prepare him 'properly' for the games. Firstly, he almost drowned a couple of times from being kept sternly under water, and secondly, the lord wanted to start focusing on strengthening his 'puny arms.' He knew it was going to be bad when the lord magicked a boulder onto his training grounds.

Merlin was told he had to push the boulder from one side of the training room, to the other. He obeyed of course.

The warlock pushed and pushed the giant rock and only managed to get it halfway across the grounds before his arms practically turned into jelly.

His trainer suggested that maybe he try another method to gain more arm muscle first. That was when he summoned smaller rocks.

Then, after Merlin took a small break, he had to pick up a twenty pound rock with both hands, and throw it as hard as he could at the wall. The lord made him do this several times until Merlin's arms could do no more. He took another break, and then had to keep training more and more, till he was at breaking point. This was the training routine he had been consistent with for the past week and a half.

So now, as Merlin is currently running around with the evil sack full of flour clutched to his chest, he could only think of how lucky he really was that he was doing this instead of the other terrible things Mason made him do... for now.

* * *

Since the first day he was brought here, not once had he run into another sorcerer as he was going back to his rooms, but for some reason, today was his unlucky day.

It was as Merlin was stumbling back to his chambers after a long and tiring day of training that he came across two competitors.

"Well, who do we have here?" A sorcerer with light brown hair uttered.

The blonde who was next to the Brunette was wearing a royal blue outfit while the other stuck up sorcerer was wearing burgundy.

"Please," Merlin pleaded, "I just want to go back to my rooms, so if you would please-" the warlock tried to get around them but the blonde pushed him in the chest. If it was a normal day and he hadn't trained to exhaustion, then he would have just stumbled back a few steps, but since it wasn't a normal day, and he had worked his muscles to its maximum, the push knocked him off his feet, resulting in him falling back and accidentally slamming his head back on the stone hard ground. Merlin groaned from the sharp pain.

"Look how weak you are." The brown said with a creepy smile. "Pitiful, that's what I say. What do you think Elton?"

The blonde soon had a smile that mirrored the other. "I think, that this sorcerer shouldn't even be here at all. He's no competition, just a lonesome, idiotic boy who can't even throw a punch, let alone pick up a sword."

The empty corridor echoed with laughter.

Ever since his body hit the ground, he hadn't been able to come back up. Black spots were dancing in his line of vision, and he tried to listen but the pounding that was resonating in his ears was overwhelming. He couldn't even find the strength to lift a finger.

"Oh, but Merek, look," Elton said once the laughter had ceased, gesturing to the sprawled form lying on the ground. "It's the dude that saved the Prince's life, what was his name again? Oh that's right, _Mer_ lin."He purred.

The warlock inwardly shuddered.

The grin on Merek's face seemed to grow even more, if that was even possible. The sorcerer bent down and reached out to stroke Merlin's cheek. "I knew I recognized you, I thought maybe I just had seen you for a moment at the feast, but what a moment that was. You used magic to save the Prince's life, how did you do it Merlin?" He asked with mirth.

Merlin twitched away from the cold touch, only causing a low chuckle to be emitted from the brunette.

"Poor thing, you can't even speak." Merek playfully cooed. He leaned in and buried his face in Merlin's hair, his rough nose nuzzling the top of his ear. "I could take you back to my chambers," he whispered, softly stroking Merlin's upper arm. "And you can rest there... In my bed, with me."

Merlin was palpitating with terror.

"G-go to... Hell." The warlock managed to breathe out.

Merek sat up real fast, his face contorting into one of rage and anger. From what Merlin could see, it looked as if Elton was faring the same.

It wasn't long before that anger was put to the test when the warlock felt the first blow to the face.

"Eruh." Merlin grunted as his face gradually became a human punching bag.

A punch to the left, to the right, left again, a punch in the gut, a kick in the ribs by Elton, and then an uppercut to the jaw. The clang of his teeth from the bottom smacking into the top row wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

When Merek decided to finally grant mercy, he slowly got up and away from the warlock. "Let's go Elton," he snarled, "this imbecile has taken up way to much of our dinner time."

* * *

Alex was in the physicians chambers getting his cheek cleaned up from an incident early during training. The Prince told Harvey he was fine, 'it's just a cut' but the physician had insisted.

It wasn't until Harvey was just about finished, when the chamber doors opened up with a loud clang as the doors hit the walls behind them. Both turned to see an out of breath servant boy with frantic eyes and blood covering his hands.

Both Prince and Physician hurried over to the boy.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"I-it's my master. He's been beaten, it's terribly bad my lord." The boy stammered.

"Who? Who's your master?" Alex prompted the boy, he was losing his patience. Whoever his master is could be getting closer to death every moment they wasted.

"It's a competitor, his name is Merlin."

Alex stumbled back, managing to grip onto the nearest surface. It was like a blow to the chest hearing that Merlin was the one beaten almost to death.

"No." Alex breathed.

"Where is he?" The physician piped up.

"Lying in one of the underground corridors, near the hall of the competitors chambers."

Once the location was out, Alex rushed past the servant and started making his way towards the door that would lead him to the castle's basement.

"Alex!" He heard an all too familiar voice yell, but he didn't bother to turn, he simply just ignored them.

"Hey! Alex!" The person called again. The Prince could hear the pounding of footsteps getting closer. "Alex, what's the matter?" A panting Cade asked as he finally fell into stride with his captain.

"One of the competitors was beaten to death and is currently lying helplessly on the ground, possibly bleeding to death." Alex managed to hiss out.

"I'm coming." Cade insisted.

"I don't care what you do, but I guess more help, the better." Alex responded.

They finally reached a large metal door, and Alex gestured to the guards to unlock it.

"Who is it?" Cade asked.

"Merlin." Alex answered, his face had absolutely no trace of emotion on it. but Cade knew his best friend, and he was certainly freaking out inside.

The doors finally opened with a creak, and they both hurried inside, closely followed by the physician.

* * *

When Alex finally spotted the limp form of Merlin, lying in the middle of a dim corridor, he rushed to his new friends side.

The blood that had appeared on his servants hands was from the sorcerer's face. His nose was bleeding, and it had trailed down the sides of his face. His cheeks were swollen, and there was already signs of bruises forming. His mouth was hanging open, just enough for Alex to see his teeth were coated in blood.

The Prince quickly dropped to his knees, and brought two shaky fingers to the young man's neck.

"Is he alive?" Cade hesitantly asked as he hovered over the warlock.

Alex sighed in relief when he finally felt a faint pulse. "Yes." He answered, "just barely."

"Thank the gods." Cade muttered.

"Move." The physician demanded as he shoved Cade lightly out of the way. Harvey bent down and immediately went to assessing the damage done to his face.

"Alex, would you mind lifting his shirt up for me?"

Alex didn't answer, he just lifted the black tunic up high enough before a small gasp escaped his lips. Merlin's right side was an angry red, already hints of purple forming.

"That's the result of at least two broken ribs." The physician muttered.

"Who do you think could have done this?" Cade uttered.

"I'm not sure, but I have my suspicions." Alex began, finally taking his eyes off of Merlin's battered form. "Cade, go retrieve Matthew and Lucas and tell James to meet me in the physicians chambers. I want you and the others to check on every competitor in their rooms. Look for signs of raw knuckles, take anyone suspicious to the dungeons."

"Alright, but I'm going to have to warn you Alex. I might be locking up just about everyone, considering that they all had probably been training in hand to hand combat today." Cade replied.

Alex silently cursed himself. "Just do it." He hissed.

"Yes sire." Cade muttered under his breath.

Once the knight was gone, and the physician was done examining the boy, he asked for Alex to pick him up.

"We need to get him to my chambers Alex, and fast."

The Prince carefully wrapped an arm under the back of Merlin's knees, and the other under his back. He slowly hoisted him up into his arms and made his way down the corridor.

* * *

When they finally made it to the physicians chambers, James was already there waiting for them.

"What happened?" The sorcerer asked while getting up from the chair he had been sitting in.

"He was beaten." Was all Alex said. The Prince navigated throughout the physicians room until he reached an empty cot. He carefully lowered Merlin, receiving a few whimpers in return.

"By who?" James asked worriedly. He didn't understand why seeing Merlin in such a vulnerable position like this, all bloody and beaten, made him want to kill whoever was responsible for this, but once again, the connection he felt with the younger man the moment they met had returned.

"I'm guessing one of the other competitors." Alex answered, not taking his eyes off the warlock.

"James," the physician called, "do you think you could heal him?"

"I don't think I can do much right now, I just got back from training so my magic wouldn't do much good." He answered.

"James-," Alex started.

"But," James began, "I can deactivate both of his magic suppressing bracelets. If his magic is strong enough, than he will be able to heal himself."

"And you think he'll be capable of that?" Harvey asked.

"Definitely." James and Alex replied in unison.

James held out a hand over the bracelet on Merlin's left wrist and murmured, "ríce béon áyppan." He then put his hand over his right and uttered the same.

The warlocks eyes suddenly flew open causing those around the bed to jump back. Merlin's eyes slowly turned from a bright gold to its normal cerulean blue.

"Merlin?" Alex tentatively spoke.

Merlin was breathing heavily, his eyes were wide with confusion and panic till they finally focused on the Prince.

"A-Alex?"

"Yeah." A small smile formed on the Prince's lips. "It's me."

"Hi." He croaked.

Alex chuckled, "Hello Merlin."

The warlock tried to sit up but winced, Alex immediately sprang into action and slowly pushed Merlin back down onto the cot. "You need to stay lying down."

"Why?" Merlin whimpered. His voice carried so much pain, it made Alex's eyes water for a moment till the Prince blinked it away. "What happened?"

"We found you, well, your servant found you... beaten, lying almost dead in a corridor. We heard about it from him and made our way to you, and then we brought you here." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Merlin, do you know who did this to you?"

Merlin did, and he thought about telling Alex the truth but he had a feeling there was nothing he could do about. The king probably wouldn't even consider punishing the sorcerers and they would just get revenge if they found out that Merlin had reported them to the Prince. So there was only one thing left to say, "No."

Alex frowned. He knew Merlin was lying, it hurt, but he understood why. However, it didn't matter because Cade, Matthew, and Lucas would find the guy, and then he'll receive an appropriate punishment.

"Alright." He nodded.

The physician was in the middle of cleaning Merlin's face up but stopped when there was a startling snapping noise, resulting in a groaning Merlin.

"What was that?" James asked.

"I believe, that was the sound of his ribs healing, or, more precisely snapping back into place."

When the blood was all clean up, Merlin attempted to sit up again.

This time James rushed forward but Merlin put a hand up, stopping him from coming closer.

"I'm fine." He grimaced.

"You don't looked fine." James retorted.

Merlin shot him a glare, "I'm just a little sore."

Merlin looked better. He was sitting up perfectly fine with his ribs no longer bothering him, and his swollen cheeks had gone down tremendously.

James had just finished reactivating both of Merlin's bracelets when the doors opened up to reveal three of his most trusted Knights.

"Cade," Alex acknowledged, "did you manage to lock anyone up?"

"We did." He replied.

"We found a small bloody towel in one of the competitors rooms. When we went to question the man, his knuckles were reddened and raw." Lucas stated. "It was Merek, sire."

Alex caught Merlin visibly tense in the corner of his eye, making the Prince clench his fists. How could someone just beat up someone so kind as Merlin? It made his blood boil just thinking about it.

"Leave Merek there overnight, I'll seek an audience with my father in the morning."

"Of course sire." Lucas responded.

Everyone's gaze turned to Merlin.

"How are you?" Cade asked, and for once he actually sounded quite concerned.

"Better." The warlock softly replied.

Cade gave a warm, reassuring smile. "That's good to hear, you certainly look better."

Merlin returned the smile. He may have been kidnapped by these people, but he couldn't help but wonder if they were really the bad guys. Maybe they were just following King Edwards orders like Alex said. Maybe they were born after the games initially started, and it's just tradition to have a fight to the death match every five years. He felt like he could trust these men and that they knew right from wrong but for some reason, they saw no wrong in these inhumane games. Perhaps they just need a little convincing later on.

"Merlin." Alex began. "This," he pointed to the Raven haired sorcerer next to him, "is James." The guy smiled. "The dirty blonde over there," he said pointing to a guy in the middle of two others near the door, "is Cade." He gave a charming grin. "The one on the right is Lucas." A chestnut brown haired man waved. "And the one to the left, is Matthew." The brunette gave a soft smile.

"Hi," the warlock softly replied. "I'm Merlin."

"Nice to meet you Merlin." Matthew replied.

After a long, lingering silence, Merlin spoke.

"Alex?"

"Yes Merlin?" He prompted.

"Can I go back to my chambers?" Merlin hesitantly asked before chewing on his bottom lip.

"Of course, I'll walk you." He insisted.

Alex walked over and slowly helped the Raven haired boy up, keeping a hand on the small of his back at all times as they started their descent out of the room.

"Good night." Merlin murmured.

A bunch of goodnights and goodbyes were exchanged before the two left the physician's chambers

It took a few minutes longer than normal to reach Merlin's chambers, but they arrived with no trouble.

"Thank you, sire."

"Your welcome Merlin, but please, just call me Alex," The Prince responded with a smile. "Make sure you thank your servant in the morning too, he was a big help."

"Of course." The warlock uttered before he turned around to go back inside his cozy chambers.

"Merlin, can I ask you something?" Alex spoke.

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you fight back?"

Merlin paused. Alex knew he lied earlier about not knowing who attacked him.

He really had to remind himself that this guy wasn't like Arthur, he wasn't gullible.

"I was so tired." Merlin responded, "but even if I wasn't, I probably wouldn't have been able to fight back."

"Why?" Alex couldn't help but ask.

Merlin sighed. "I don't know how to fight. My trainer has only been working on strength training with me and it won't probably be until a month or so left till the games before he'll deem me ready enough to hold a sword."

Alex thought for a moment.

"I could train you... if you'd like." The Prince stated.

Merlin stated incredulously at the man in front of him. Was he serious? Was the bloody Prince of Arudus offering to train him?

"I thought you weren't allowed to, I mean, that's what you told that guy on the first day when he asked you."

Alex smirked. "It's not allowed but we could train after dark, nobody will have to know. I can show you a hidden passage way out of here and we can meet up every night in the woods. I could train you in hand to hand combat, sword fighting, or anything your Lord isn't teaching you for a few hours. That way, when it's time for you to go to the games, you'll be better than the others. You'll be ready. After all, I've been told I'm the best swordsman in this kingdom."

It was brilliant, utterly brilliant. He inwardly chuckled at the last thing he said, it was so Arthur like.

There was only one logical response he could give Alex.

"When do we start?"


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N:**_

 _ **wrote a long chapter for making you guys wait. We finally get the reason why The sorcerer Games exist and what the king's motives are. We have some Arthur in this chapter and obviously some Alex. No Merlin though, Sorry :( training with Alex will be next chapter! By the way I must warn you that in a future chapter there will be a non con attempt... If you do not know what it means I suggest you read it in urban dictionary. (This story is rated T for a reason.) Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter! And I'm in desperate need of reviews right now, I'm feeling self conscious of this chapter :/ anyways, FEEDBACK PLS!**_

* * *

The Prince walked down the aisle of cells, not even bothering to take a glance at those he passed, even when they shook the bars and cried, pleading for release.

He had eyes only for the perpetrator who sat timidly on the hard straw floor. His chains rattled as he ran his hands through his grimy hair. He rested his elbows on his knees, sighing in contempt.

Alex slipped a hand into his trousers as he approached the cell, scrummaging around until he felt the familiar cold metal against his finger. He took out the lone key and slipped it into the lock. The clanging noise of the gesture caused Merek's head to suddenly heft up. The squeaking sound of the door being opened was all it took for the sorcerer to scramble up to his feet, almost falling over from the abrupt dizziness that overcame is vision.

The Prince wasted no time in retrieving the man. He took a step forward and gripped onto the burgundy sleeve of the other man's tunic and jerked him forwards. The sorcerer gasped as he stumbled forward. If it wasn't for the Prince holding onto him up, he would have been sprawled out on the floor already.

There was a scowl on the other man's face as he lifted it up to meet his captor head on, but the expression quickly morphed into one of shock as his eyes settled on the Prince.

"M-my lord!" Merek stammered.

The sorcerer started to bow but before he even got halfway down, Alex had pushed him forwards, hands now gripping into the back of his shirt.

"Walk." Alex gritted out. He thought he would be able to control himself when he faced the man who had hurt his friend, but the sudden urge to run the man through on the spot was telling him otherwise. Thankfully, Merek wasn't stupid enough to disobey, so he kept silent as they started their descent to the throne room.

The sorcerer may be staying silent but that didn't mean his thoughts were. He knew why he was here, or had an idea of what was the reason. That Merlin guy, the one he had beaten almost to death was the cause for this. That weak, pathetic boy had ratted him out, and if Merlin didn't think he would get his revenge, than he was surely wrong.

* * *

The guards on each side of the throne room doors opened them up upon their arrival.

Alex walked in with Merek still in front, they made their way to the middle of the room right in front of their King.

The Prince pushed down on the sorcerers shoulders, causing the other man to fall to his knees.

Edward observed the scene in front of him. His heir had asked for an audience with him this morning so of course he allowed it, but to see Alex bring in Merek, one of the two sorcerers who were representing his kingdom in the games, who he had planned on being the victor, was an understandable enough reason for him to get angry.

"Alexander," the King bellowed, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Father." Alex practically spat as he accidentally dug his nails too deep into the sorcerers shoulders, he released his grip when he heard the faint whimper Merek made. He despised his father when he used his full name.

The king inwardly cringed. He hated when his son called him father, it made him sound weak, like he had feelings. He never really cared much for, he daresay son. At the time, he needed an heir so he bed his wife that he had wed through an arranged marriage, and soon enough she was pregnant. It wasn't until Alex was one years old when he decided to poison her, he hated the thought of sharing powerful with another, especially a woman.

He despised Alex, he hated his son. He was everything he wasn't. His heir was talented with not just a sword but every weapon you could name, his own son bested him. It was... Shameful, the king should be the best. Edward had no doubt that the people liked his son more, the civilians feared their king but loved Alex. That alone proved that his son was not fit for the throne, your people should fear you not love you, and his son would just be taken advantage of if he were king. And if that happened, his kingdom would fall.

The king was cursed, he hated to admit it, but he was... Literally. People had often wondered why he started the games, most thought money, others thought it was to get rid of the most powerful sorcerers in other lands, and when his army of his own loyal sorcerers was strong enough, then he would take over the whole of Albion. They couldn't be more right; however, that was only partially it. The king himself was not the age others thought, he was alive before anyone in this kingdom was born. He was one hundred and sixty years old, has been for the last century. In the eyes of his people, he was fifty.

It all started one hundred and thirty nine years ago when he was twenty one.

He was crowned Prince of Arudus at the time his father was king. A high priestess of the old religion warned his father that if he built his arena on the sands behind his castle, than she will curse his only son. His father had never believed in curses and had chosen to ignore the witch's words. So he built the arena despite her warning, and once it was finally finished, she was back.

She claimed to worship a god, a blood God to be exact, one who which craved the blood of male sorcerers. Before his father built the arena, sacrifices were made there, ten sacrifices every five years that no one knew about. The blood God wasn't real, him and his father knew that, but the high priestess was delirious, and she believed in the silly myth. Apparently the sands behind the castle were sacred grounds where the sacrifices must be made for the blood God to receive his share. She got angry and cursed the King's son for her benefit.

"He will grow old." She said, "he will age faster than the average mortal. Every hour from now on he will gain an age. If you refuse to sacrifice ten sorcerers every five years than his age will catch up to him, and he will surely die. Sacrifice ten male sorcerers soon or your son will reach his death sooner than you think."

And she was right, the next morning he looked like he was forty. His father kept him in his chambers all day, and by the time his father came back he was fifty, looking more like he was the King's brother, rather than his son.

"It is done," his father said, "I sacrificed ten male sorcerers who were being kept in the dungeons, they weren't innocent."

Even though his father was trying to reassure him that he didn't kill any innocents, it still hurt to know that ten people had to die for him to live, to stay the age he is now.

"If there was any other way my son, than I would surely take it, killing ten people is not something that you could just do without remorse... without guilt, but there is no other way for you to live."

"There is though, and you know it, the witch said so." He pleaded.

"Edward," his father began, "such a man doesn't exist."

The witch said there was only one way to stop the sacrifices, with one big sacrifice. It would have to been the man with the purest blood, the purest magic, a man with magic as his very essence... A warlock.

"Warlocks do not exist. The man she seeks is as much a myth as the blood God." His father stated.

"What man?"

His father sighed, taking a seat next to him. "There is a man of myth and legend, one who they claim will be the most powerful warlock to ever walk the earth, a protector and advisor to the once and future king. Says they will bring magic back, and untie all the kingdoms of Albion. It is a prophecy, one that the Druids strongly believe in, and one which I do not believe in because it isn't true. Magic is not gone, and neither is it gone in the other kingdoms on the other side of Albion. The man's name is Emrys and I am positive that it is that man's sacrifice that she claims will satisfy the Blood God to a point where he will not crave the blood of another sorcerer again. But he does not exist Edward, and we are stuck sacrificing these innocents every five years from this day forward. I would do anything for you my son, anything, you are my world."

"What if-" his voice broke as tears started to well up in his eyes, "what if I died? The sacrifices would stop."

"No, I will not allow you to die, the worst thing a parent could experience in their life is for their child to pass away before them, it's not meant to be that way and it will not happen with you. It's unthinkable and I will say it again, no."

"I am not a child anymore father, you can see that for yourself. I have wrinkles and my hair is starting to turn gray. I haven't lived out my youth, my young adult years, this is no life for me." He replied.

"No matter what age you are, you will always be my little boy." His father said as his eyes glistened with tears. "I am so sorry that this happened to you, it is my fault, I should have listened."

"No father do not blame yourself, you couldn't have known." He reassured the king, "but I will have to leave, I can't just reemerge from my chambers and be fifty years old. I will leave, and I will come back when it is my time to rule. I do not wish to leave you now, but I have no choice and you know that too, I can see the understanding in your eyes. I will come back in thirty years and take my rightful place on the throne, I promise you."

So he left, he left the next day and hitched a ride on a dragon, a dragon he was close with who called himself Kilgharrah.

He was dropped off on the other side of Albion, where he traveled kingdoms for years, jumping from one land to the next, where he never aged another day. His humanity slowly left him as he was betrayed again and again by those around him. He became cruel and mean, and when thirty years passed by he still never came back. He wouldn't come back for another eighty years.

He came back eventually, persuaded a young dragon lord named Balinor to give him a ride. They traveled there together and to his luck, the King of Arudus had just died, not his father of course, he died decades ago. The king didn't have an heir, so that was when Edward requested an audience with the council and showed them his royal seal, the sigil of Arudus engraved on his ring. He claimed to be the King's cousin, and that he passed on his legacy to him before he died. They foolishly believed him, and he was crowned king the week after, where his new friend Balinor soon became his advisor.

He had found out about The sorcerer Games from the council during one of their meetings. They occurred every five years where twelve male sorcerers, all the age of 21, were to participate in a fight to the death match, where there was only one victor.

He had asked who started this idea and wasn't surprised when he learned it was his father who invented the game. He had wondered all these years how his father managed to kill ten every five years and how he stayed the same age even when his father passed, and now he knew how. His father was a genius.

So he kept it up, and every five years he held the sorcerer games.

He wed a few years later and had his son, Alexander. Not soon after that, Balinor and the rest of the dragon lords left his kingdom with their dragons to go to Camelot. He didn't know why but it angered him, his most powerful possessions were leaving. He had tried to convince Balinor to stay, even mentioning his three year old son James. The Dragon Lord hesitated for a moment and claimed he would think about it. He ended up not staying, he said it was important.

He later found out later it was a trap, that a tyrant by the name of Uther Pendragon had killed all of the dragons and their lords. The great purge soon started.

His kingdom started to run out of young sorcerers who were of age to compete in the games so he resorted to a new method. He kidnapped sorcerers of age from other kingdoms and forced them to compete in the games. He changed the rules and added 8 months of training before the games to make it an interesting fight. He would make them feel like nobles too, and then they wouldn't want to escape. They couldn't anyway, considering that they were so secluded from the rest of the kingdoms that if they chose to leave, they wouldn't survive a day when traveling through the rough terrain.

The games were rigged of course, to have only the sorcerers from his kingdom win. He wanted the victors to be loyal to him, and only him.

He was smart enough to not allow all of his sorcerers to compete in the games over the years, he needed his magical army to be strong after all.

"I had my men arrest this man." Alex spoke up when he noticed his father looked as if he wasn't there anymore.

The King's head snapped up and met his son's eyes. "Why did you need to arrest Merek?"

"He almost killed one of the other competitors, he practically beat them to death." Alex stated.

"And who may the other competitor be?" He asked.

"Merlin."

The king clenched his fists. "That boy deserved it." _He deserved to be beaten to death for saving you._ He wanted to say.

"He never received his full punishment anyways."

"He saved my life!" Alex practically shrieked, "you should be thankful."

The king didn't need his son anymore, didn't need an heir at all now that he thought about it. With the sacrifices every five years, at this rate, he would live forever, he could be king forever. With his mind made up, he would soon start planning for his son's unfortunate death.

"I am thankful," he lied, "put the boy back into the dungeons for another day, then let him out tomorrow."

"That's it?" Alex asked, "that's the worst he gets? Not even a flogging?"

The king was seething now, "Alex," he hissed, "he represents our kingdom in these games, what will it look like to the people if he is publicly flogged, how bad would we look?"

"Then... A private flogging." Alex suggested.

"I said no." Edward spoke through gritted teeth. "I am the king, and you shall obey me."

It wasn't long before he was alone again.

That Merlin boy was getting on his nerves. He was powerful, and apparently seemed to think it okay to become somewhat friendly with the Prince judging by how much Alex wanted this man punished. Strange... he never seemed to care for the competitors before.

Edward decided he need some answers, to learn more about this man, and who better than the man he's most loyal to, none other than Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot.

"Guards!" The king yelled. "Gather my most trusted."

* * *

It was mid day and Arthur still hadn't emerged from his room. He knew a guard or knight would come for him soon, perhaps even the king himself, but he didn't have the energy to do anything today, let alone get out of his bed.

He kicked out his temporary manservant once he delivered his breakfast earlier that morning. It's nothing new honestly, he kicked him out every morning, but today, he didn't get up to eat, he just rolled over and lazily opened the drawer next to his bed. He rummaged around until he felt the familiar, soft fabric he was looking for. He pulled it out and brought it close to his naked chest, clutching onto it as if it was a lifeline. And in some odd way, it kind of was.

He had found it on the floor of Merlin's room, lazing around with the rest of his stuff. He brought the red neckerchief back with him to his chambers and stared at it for quite a while, reminiscing the times Merlin and him went on hunts, and dangerous missions together. Even though he would never admit he did this to anyone but himself, he brought it up to his face and smelt it, relinquishing in the familiar scent of his best friend, his rock.

It had been two weeks since Merlin went missing, and ever day was just as hard as the first, every day he pinched himself hoping that this was all just a nightmare, if it was, he never woke up.

Today was Arthur's birthday, also the anniversary of his mother's death which is probably the reason why his father hadn't come or sent anyone for him. He was probably feeling the same way he was... Except for a different person.

It didn't feel right to not get the same morning greeting as he did last year.

'Rise and shine, sire.' Merlin had said, 'it's your birthday.'

'Don't be and idiot _Mer_ lin, I don't need reminding, of course I know it's my birthday.' He replied.

Arthur chuckled aloud, the first real laugh he gave since Merlin was kidnapped.

He slowly drew away the neckerchief from his chest, suddenly feeling cold from the lack of warmth there. He brought it up to his face and breathed in, he could barely smell Merlin anymore. It wasn't really that much of a surprise to him, ever since he obtained the object he had tied it to his belt before he began his duties for the day, and every night he would put it back safely in the drawer.

Arthur finally decided to get up. He went straight to his wardrobe, not even bothering to eat breakfast, he couldn't even look at food without wanting to throw it all up. He barely ate anymore.

He dressed himself despite what Merlin would always say. He could only put on a simple tunic, trousers, boots, and a belt, but at least it was something.

He tied the neckerchief onto the side of his belt, sheathed his sword into its scabbard, and left the warmth of his room.

The first thing he noticed when he exited his chambers, was the lack of guards. There were absolutely none in his hallway.

Before he could even think more on it, there was a hand over his mouth, and an arm across his ribs, holding his arms down.

He tried to wrestle out of the person's grip but soon another person had joined and was picking up his legs, holding them tight to their chest.

He made muffled screams while squirming in the man's arms. He pulled his legs towards himself and pushed out, over and over again, trying to get the man to lose his grip on his legs, but it was no use.

"Hey!" Arthur stopped struggling when he heard the all to familiar voice of his father.

"Put my son down right this instance! Guards!" He yelled.

Even though Arthur couldn't see him, he definitely heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"Let him go." Uther growled.

"Do what he says." A voice came from behind.

The guards hesitated a moment before lowering the Prince.

Now that he could see his father, he saw that two guards had finally joined them.

Arthur saw something fly over his hand and land on the ground behind his father with a crash, suddenly green smoke started pouring out from the jar and into the air.

"Cover your face!" Arthur yelled at his father and his men.

They did as they were told, while Arthur turned around to face the sorcerer who took someone vital from him.

"You kidnapped Merlin didn't you?" Arthur growled.

James' eyes widened in recognition. Prince Arthur of Camelot was someone that was very close to Merlin, someone the boy felt the need to protect. The Knights that James had came with were now fighting off Uther and his men. For some reason now that he knew this was Merlin's friend, he didn't want to go through with his king's orders, he didn't want to bring him Arthur Pendragon.

He wasn't thinking when he grabbed the Prince and shoved him into the room he had just come out of only moments ago.

He shut the door behind him and locked it with a quick spell.

He whipped his head around once he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed, only to welcomed to the tip of a sword against his throat.

"Sorcerer." Arthur spat.

"Yes, to answer both your questions."

Arthur's eyes widened for a moment but soon went back to the same determined look as before.

"Where is he?"

"I- I can't tell you that." James replied nervously, resulting in the draw of blood as the tip of the blade broke the first layer of skin.

"Tell me." The Prince hissed.

James eyed the blade then looked back up at the Prince. Arthur knew what he was implying, and soon moved the blade back barely an inch so he would be able to speak.

"All I can tell you is that he is alive and well, I had orders from someone to come and kidnap you. Once I realized that you knew Merlin, I couldn't help but not follow through with those orders."

"Then bring me to him, I want him... I need him, please." Arthur pleaded.

"I can't, and I'm sorry to say that, he won't be home for a while."

"Why? Why do you need him?" Arthur asked.

"He defended you, he threatened our king for you. He really cares for you." James replied, ignoring Arthur's question.

Arthur was breathing heavily now, his eyes were welling up with unshed tears.

"Where is he!" He screamed.

James grabbed the crystal in his pocket before he was gutted on the spot and started chanting quickly. Arthur withdrew his sword and was just about to plunge it into the sorcerer in front of him, when he suddenly vanished a moment later in thin air.

Arthur screamed in frustration.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**_

 ** _This is probably the worst chapter I've wrote. It's poorly written with not much excitement, just some humor and heartfelt moments. Practically a filler and I'm so mad at myself. I'll make it up to u guys with the next chapter, sorry. Please review._**

* * *

"Arthur." Uther beckoned his son over to where he was standing behind the physician's table. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yeah, it's a sigil." Arthur responded as he glanced down at the dark green cloak with a gold lion as its crest. "One that I've never seen before."

"That's what troubles me." Uther responded, not taking his eyes off the sigil, "those men that I fought, they had skills of true warriors, they had armor and capes. It's quite obvious that they were Knights sent from another kingdom, one which even I have never seen before."

"Is it possible that they were foreign? From another country like France or Spain?" Arthur asked.

"No, if they were from another country they'd speak a different language or would have an accent. The sorcerer that was with them spoke perfect English; however he did sound a bit northern... Gaius" Uther uttered, "hand me a map of Albion."

Gaius immediately started searching for what his king had asked of him. He set to work, scrummaging through papers, and opening up several drawers before he finally found what he was looking for.

"Ah, here we go sire."

Uther reached over the table and grabbed the map, he then laid it on top of the green cloak. All three hovered over it.

"This, is the map of Albion, the only updated map we have." Uther began, "right here is the northern plains, and that is where this map cuts off because no one we know has ventured beyond the plains, or beyond Mercia. Those who try, have never come back. There's a possibility that there are other kingdoms past it, on the other side of Albion."

"If that's true, then what do they want of us?" Arthur asked.

"Well they did try to take you, so I'm guessing information, about Camelot most likely."

"Well they were the ones that took Merlin."

"Arthur, are you sure it was they that took your manservant?" Uther asked.

"If I may, sire, I believe he is correct." Gaius spoke up. "I found this," the physician moved over to his book shelf and picked up what looked like to be a royal seal. "On Merlin's bed, it is the same Royal Crest that is on that cloak."

Arthur took the ring from Gaius and held it close to his face, observing it from all angles. "It's a perfect match."

"That is their Royal seal, not one normally fit for a king but, for a Prince." Uther stated.

Arthur stilled, "Are you saying that the Prince from this mysterious kingdom personally came here to kidnap my manservant?"

"I have no idea, son. All I'm saying is that," he pointed to the ring in Arthur's hand, "that is a royal seal fit for a crown prince."

Arthur gaped at his father. "Where's mine?"

Uther opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it. He cleared his throat before turning to Gaius, "research this, tell me if you find anything, I have a council meeting to attend to." He spoke before turning around.

"But father, that meeting isn't until later."

"I must get ready now." The king responded without stopping.

Once the king left, Arthur turned to Gaius, "where's my royal seal?"

The physician just stared at him, "on your cloak sire."

"No, that's the pendragon crest. I'm talking about my ring."

"I must get started on my rounds." Gaius turned around and started to gather random vials.

"Didn't you already do that this morning?"

* * *

After a long day of strength training as per usual... Merlin was resting on his bed, having just eaten a big dinner earlier he decided to sit up against his pillows instead of laying down, not wanting to disturb his stomach for his next training session.

Merlin inwardly groaned. Another hardworking training sesh was just what he need after a long day of torture with Lord Mason. As much as he dreaded another two hours of working himself to exhaustion, he did get a giddy feeling in his full stomach whenever he thought about the Prince of Arudus training him of all people. Even though he was already sort of special for being the apparent 'Most Powerful Warlock to Ever walk the Earth,' he still couldn't shake the thought of being special at the moment, something he never felt around Arthur in Camelot.

Camelot... Arthur... No. Merlin shook his head, clearing away those thoughts. He promised himself once he finally committed to going through with the games that he would stop thinking about Camelot and everyone in it; including his other half, no matter how many times the thought of Arthur lingered in the back of his mind. It's not like Arthur was missing him anyways, if anything, he probably was happy, overjoyed that his idiotic and useless manservant was gone... missing.

The warlock rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, relinquishing in taking slow, deep breaths. When he let his hands fall back to his side he didn't dare open his eyes. He just wanted to fall asleep, take a nap for a bit before round two. He concentrated on the quietness and warmth of the room, his last trail of thoughts were about Camelot before he fell into a dreamless sleep.

It wasn't even three hours later, a little past dawn, when there was a sharp knock at his door. Merlin stretched his limbs weakly before pushing himself to get up and out of bed. Shivers trailed up his body when his feet touched the cold, hard wood floors. He waited a moment till his body adjusted to the cold before he descended to the door. The knocking started once again.

The warlock opened up the door to reveal a dirty blonde knight with a hand up, clenched into a fist, preparing to knock more. When he noticed he was just standing there, the knight quickly brought his arm down and clasped both hands behind his back, rocking back in forth on the balls of his feet.

"Merlin!" Cade greeted with a toothy grin that made the corners of the warlock's mouth twitch up.

"Cade." Merlin croaked, his voice still groggy from his nap.

The knight raised a questionable eyebrow and let his eyes roam over Merlin's body, taking in his appearance. He took in the messy black hair, wrinkled tunic, slightly twisted trousers, and the unnaturally small eyes on Merlin's face. His face morphed into some sort of guilt when he came to the realization.

"You were sleeping."

"Is it that obvious?" Merlin replied, his voice slowly coming back to normal. "Forgive me Sir Cade for resting before my second vigorous training session of the day." He replied with sarcasm but apparently Cade didn't pick up on it.

"Merlin," Cade softly responded, "I'm sure we are past using propriety, I am just Cade. You've earned it you know, for saving my Prince's life."

Merlin's tired eyes looked up to meet Cade's grateful ones. The Raven haired man gave a small smile to the knight. A warm feeling settled in his stomach, one he used to get all the time when he was with family or friends, and that is exactly what it felt like to be with Cade. Friends.

"I'm guessing you are here to escort me to the forest for training. Alex's orders?" Merlin asked.

"Well of course." Cade smirked with an amused glint in his eye as he outstretched a bent arm, offering it to Merlin. "Milady."

Merlin scowled at the man before him, but took his arm in a mocking gesture, "well of course sir knight." Merlin grumbled. "Lead the way."

When Cade threw his head back and barked with laughter, it didn't take long for Merlin to do the same.

* * *

The knight guided him through a bunch of confusing and dark hallways until they came across a long forest green colored tapestry in an alcove with the golden Arudus family crest beautifully woven into the middle.

Cade unhooked his arm from Merlin's and moved forward, drawing the banner to the side to reveal a wooden door underneath.

"Is that-"

"The entrance to a siege tunnel?" Cade finished for Merlin, "Yes, it'll take you right to the edge of the forest. That's where Alex will be waiting for you everyday."

There was a long silence before Cade turned back around to face the warlock.

"You know Merlin... We don't normally make friends with the competitors, and Alex certainly does not, what so ever, train a competitor, let alone someone who isn't a knight. I don't know what it is with you but, he trusts you. Trusts you enough to go against the rules and train you himself. He's better than me, better than anyone I've ever seen, and not just in swordplay but everything. Any weapon you can think of, he's mastered it. He's a true warrior and to be trained by him is a privilege, an opportunity people yearn to seek. A skill people would kill to have. I'm proud to say that by the end of these eight months, he will make a true warrior out of you. Just promise me one thing, Merlin."

"Anything," Merlin breathed.

"Try your hardest, and do not let him down."

"Never." The warlock responded, and he meant it, with everything he had left.

Cade smiled, "good, now c'mon, your already late for training on your first day! This will give your trainer a terrible impression" the knight taunted as he opened the wooden door.

"Hey! That was your fault." Merlin remarked and followed after him obediently.

"Oh please, I wasn't the one who took a nap before we came here, making us late with your slow arrival to the door." Cade argued.

Merlin stubbornly scowled.

"Leohtbora," he heard Cade whisper before a torch lit up beside them.

Merlin gasped, "you have magic."

Cade's outstretched hand stopped halfway. He watched as the Knight clenched his jaw, then turned to him with wide eyes.

"I- I don't know what came over me, I shouldn't have, I just got so carried away, I felt so comfortable with you and and-"

"Cade." Merlin spoke, stopping the knight from his ramblings. He put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with having magic, I have it, your friend James has it, so why are you freaking out about it?"

"You don't understand Merlin. Nobody knows, well, nobody knew. Not even Alex or anyone in our inner circle. Especially not the king." He stressed.

"Your right," Merlin responded, "I don't understand."

Cade stepped back and rubbed a hand over his face. He quickly took the lit torch from the wall and started walking away.

"If you are a magic user here in the kingdom," Cade began as Merlin caught up with him, "you have to register and become part of our army full of sorcerers. There are royal Knights and there are sorcery Knights. I like where I am, I don't want to be told what to do or be constantly watched, I want to be a free man and a royal knight, I want to stand by my Prince's side. If I were ever discovered, even though I have little magic, I would be stripped of my title and switched over to our sorcerer army. They are practically the king's pets, and have little freedom. I shouldn't say this, but Alex's father is a cruel man, sick man. He cares nothing of his people or his son, he cares only for personal gain and power. Of course, Alex doesn't see this because he chooses not to, and I'm afraid that it may just be the death of him. These games just tell you how insane our king's have been in the past. They're inhumane and just Edward's excuse to get rid of the strong sorcerers from other kingdoms. But, I know there's something more, something else that Edward does this for, not all for money and power, but for something else, something more dangerous. I dreamed it once, I dreamed about you before you came."

Merlin halted in his tracks. "Are you a seer?"

"I- I'm not sure." Cade responded.

"What did you see?" Merlin hesitantly asked.

"It wasn't much of seeing, more of hearing, I saw a brief image of your face, and then a name."

"W-What name?" Merlin hesitantly asked.

"Emrys." Cade sounded speculative, as if he couldn't believe he was saying the name.

"Weird, never heard of it." Merlin responded, feeling a pang in his gut for lying to this knight when he was being so truthful to him.

"Don't worry about it," Cade said before turning back around to continue walking, "it's a silly myth that James is obsessed with. First he went on and on about his father being a dragon lord and now it's Emrys."

"Dr-dragon lord?" Merlin spluttered, "who was his father?"

"His fathers name was something like, balor, Balidor, Belin..."

"Balinor?" Merlin whimpered.

Cade sharply turned around to face Merlin once again. "How did you know?"

Merlin clutched his chest, feeling a strong ache in his heart. He backed up into the stone cold wall and took a ragged breath. "B-Balinor is my fathers' name, and he was a d-dagon lord."

"No." Cade breathed, eyes wide.

Merlin just nodded.

"Y-your James' younger brother." A small smile appeared on Knights face. "You've got a brother!" He shrieked.

A small smile formed on Merlin's lips too as he let out a laugh that came out more like a choked sob, "yeah... I've got a brother."

* * *

There was a knew found energy running through Merlin's veins. Finding out you had a brother isn't something you would normally hear. He was happy, really happy that he had more family; however, with knowing this information, led to some questions.

'Who is James' mother?'

'If he's older then me, how did I become the dragon lord?'

'Does James know his father is dead?'

Cade and Merlin had agreed to keep this information from everyone, including James till Merlin felt ready. Cade knew that if James ever found out that his little brother was a competitor in the games, he may defy the crown just to get him out of there, and he couldn't let that happen.

They finally arrived at the end of the siege tunnel a few minutes later. Cade handed Merlin the torch, then set forth on climbing up the rusty metal latter. The knight unlocked the latch and pushed it open to reveal the navy night sky filled with thousands of bright stars. The luminescent moon was visible from the hole above their heads, illuminating both men with a soft glow. Merlin's skin looked a smooth milky white in the moonlight.

"Took you guys long enough." Merlin heard the familiar voice of Alex.

"It was Merlin's fault, he was sleeping when I reached his chambers." Cade responded.

Before Merlin could stop himself, he had reached out and pinched the back of Cade's leg. The warlock grinned in satisfaction when he heard the knight Yelp.

"Ow!" Cade shrieked before he quickly climbed the rest of the way out of the tunnel.

The warlock burned out the torch, then started up the latter. He smiled wider when the sound of Alex laughing filled up the clearing he was in.

The first thing he saw other than a scowling Cade was that Alex had brought an extra sword. All Merlin could think about was how happy he was to actually be training like he was supposed to be.

"Hello Merlin." Alex spoke once he was done laughing, his eyes glistened with unshed happy tears.

"Hi Alex," merlin responded as he took the offered hand. The Prince pulled him out of the hole like he weighed nothing.

Alex then turned and glared at Cade.

"Right," The knight said, "well, I'll come back for you later Merlin." And with that, Cade disappeared back down into the siege tunnel.

"Sorry," Merlin moved his gaze to meet Alex's. "I figured it would just be better without all the distractions."

"No, it's fine." Merlin reassured him, "I think it's better with just the two of us."

The Prince smiled before he bent down to pick up the spare sword.

"This is yours."

Merlin carefully grasped the hilt of the sword, treating it like it was some ancient artifact. From his years of serving Arthur, he knew a great sword when he saw one. The blade was sharp and glistened beautifully in the moonlight.

"Alex... this is, wow." Merlin breathed.

"Well." He began, "like I said before, it's all yours."

Merlin's eyes went wide, "I - I can't accept this! This sword is one of the best I've ever seen, fit for a king. Not for-" _A servant like me,_ he wanted to say, because maybe he'd had hoped that one day, it would be Arthur giving him a sword. But who was he kidding? Arthur would never do something like that. "Not for me." He finished.

The warlock tried to hand the sword back to Alex but he just pushed it back. "Merlin please, I'm your trainer and your my competitor, let me give you this."

Merlin opened up his mouth to reject again, but Alex interrupted him. "If it makes you feel better, It was just one of our many swords, lying on the rack alone with no owner."

Merlin thought it over for a moment before sighing in defeat, "fine, okay, but I don't deserve this."

Alex beamed, "You saved my life Merlin, I'm forever indebted to you." He responded with upmost sincerity.

"Thank you, Alex, for everything. I know how much of a risk this is for you, and you couldn't possibly understand how much this means to me." It meant everything to him how well he was treated by this man, if he was going to stay mentally sane here, he needed some friends.

They stood there for a moment, just enjoying the warmth of the summer night as the crickets chirped. Merlin looked up into the sky and observed the beautiful stars, he let his mind trail back to Camelot just this once.

 _'Happy Birthday my King, I will make it home to you.'_

"Well." Alex clapped his hands together, breaking the peaceful silence. "lets get started with the basics, shall we?"


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N:**_

 ** _I told you guys a week ago that there was going to be some kind of non con in here and this is that chapter! Non con is not consentual, (rape) however I'm not that cruel and it's attempted rape in this chapter. I'm rating this chapter M, because for some viewers and may seem like that. If you want to skip over that part, the non con starts at *** and ends with *** as well. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Review please and I'm sorry :(_**

* * *

"Parry!"

Merlin swung his sword and met Alex's with a clang, successfully blocking the Prince's attack.

"Good!" Alex shouted over the commotion they were making, how nobody on night patrol heard them was a mystery. "Circle parry!"

Merlin bent his sword in a circular manner, managing to catch the tip of Alex's sword, then deflected it.

"Excellent!" The Prince shouted happily as he brought his sword down by his side. "It's been one week since we started this and your learning well."

Merlin beamed at the comment. "Well I do happen to have the best swordsman in Arudus as my teacher."

Alex returned the smile. "I want to give you a tip."

"Ok."

"To gain more of an advantage to be able to move side to side faster, you need to concentrate more of your weight to the balls of your feet. It'll help your mobility. Do that next time." Alex instructed.

Merlin nodded as he breathed heavily.

"It's cold out tonight."

Alex looked up and into the sky for a moment. "Yeah, it is."

Merlin adjusted his grip on his sword and shifted into a ready stance, Alex soon mirrored the same.

"I'm going to perform a beat attack to test your stability alright? Try to hold onto your sword as long as you can" Alex waited till the warlock nodded before he proceeded.

He was quick. Alex was right in front of him one moment, then the next he was a blur and there was a weight of someone beating down rather harshly on Merlin's sword.

The warlock vigorously met the Prince's strong blows, trying desperately to keep up with his quick pace. His arms were growing massively weak from the strain but Merlin pushed the pain to the back of his mind and grit his teeth together. It was a current pattern of right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, again and again, until Alex did that annoyingly neat trick with the flick of his wrist and the next thing Merlin knew, he was disarmed.

"Yield." Alex playfully commanded. Merlin's arms were out in a surrender like pose as the tip of the Prince's sword was an inch away from the bridge of his nose, causing his eyes to go cross eyed.

"I yield." Merlin responded almost to eagerly.

After a moment Alex lowered his weapon, and his serious face became bright with a charming smile. "You lasted longer than yesterday!"

Merlin scowled. "I would've lasted longer if you didn't disarm me."

"Oh come on Merlin," Alex rolled his eyes in exasperation. "if I continued any longer you'd be in a heap on the forest ground, and don't you dare deny it." He pointed an accusing finger at the warlock.

Merlin went to pick up his sword as he grumbled something about 'self centered Prince's.'

There was a sudden rustling in the tree line which caused Alex to stand alert and Merlin to quickly grab his sword and do the same. They both sighed in relief when Cade walked out through the leaves. "Trainings over Mate, time to go."

Alex walked over and held out his hand, "Good training session Merlin, your improving. Still very impressed on how fast you've caught on."

Merlin gripped the other man's forearm. "Well, I've been watching the Knights in Camelot train for two years so, I'm sure I've watched enough training sessions to know how to do the stuff."

Alex released his grip on the other man's arm and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You've been watching?"

Merlin widened his eyes, "Oh no! Not like some creep who's obsessed with Knights or something. I served the Prince of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon, so that's why I had to attend his training."

"You were Prince Arthur's manservant?" Alex asked with amusement evident in his voice.

"Yes. And he looks really similar to you except not as blonde, tan, or nice." He finished with a smile.

Alex chuckled, "well, that's good to know, seems as if you didn't like the guy."

"Oh, I consider Arthur a friend. I've drunk poison for him, he's practically drank poison for me which turned out not to be poison, but he didn't know that at the time-"

"Okay, okay," Alex interrupted him, a small smile plastered on his face. "I get it, you two would die for each other."

Merlin opened his mouth to reply "yes, we would." But, he didn't actually know if Arthur would do the same as he would for him. When he had drank the fake poison, it was more for Camelot than for Merlin. He felt guilty that he killed the unicorn and Merlin shouldn't suffer for his consequences."

Alex noticed the strained expression on the warlock's face, so quickly decided to chain the topic. "Well, Merlin, great job again, you should really go get some rest now, it's been a long day for you."

"Yeah hurry, it's cold out here." Cade spoke up.

Merlin laughed, "alright, I'm coming!"

* * *

When Merlin reached his chambers both he and Cade went inside.

"Forbærne," Cade quickly muttered. Soon the fireplace roared with life.

"M-much better." The shivering knight said as he stripped off his gloves and threw them on the wooden table. Merlin soon joined him and they both warmed their frozen hands over the fire.

"It's crazy how the weather can change so fast. It was just a week ago when I almost passed out from the heat, and now I can't help but wish for it back."

"That makes two of us mate." Cade replied. "As much as I wish to stay and warm my hands up a little longer, I have to get back to my chambers. I've got an early meeting."

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow." Merlin responded.

Cade smiled, "see you tomorrow Merlin."

The warlock watched his friend's retreating form until he left the room. He turned back to the fire and stared at it for a but until he heard the door open again not a minute later.

Merlin smirked, "Forget someth- mmh!"

Who he thought was Cade was definitely not him. The intruder clamped a hand over Merlin's mouth and an arm over his flailing limbs. Merlin felt the hot breath of the man as he leaned into his ear.

"Maybe next time you'll learn to keep your mouth shut."

Merlin froze when he heard the familiar voice of none other than Merek. However, that was his biggest mistake. The sorcerer took the opening and pushed him on to the floor. The side of Merlin's head slammed into the ground emitting a groan from the man.

"Those are the sounds I like to hear." A creepy grin broke out on his face as he fell to his knees in front of the whimpering warlock.

"Your so beautiful." Merek spoke as he stroked the warlock's sharp cheekbone. "I can't believe I'm going to get to have my way with you."

"No," Merlin croaked out. He tried to push his body up off the floor but his arms were sluggish from his practice with Alex and he hurt his shoulder after the sorcerer brutally pushed him.

"Tsk tsk, Oh no you don't." He uttered.

Merek pushed down on Merlin's shoulder making him lay on his back. He then advanced on the warlock and locked his hips in place with his legs.

Merek then leaned down and started kissing his smooth pale neck. Merlin tried to push him off but the man on top of him was too strong. The sorcerer grabbed the wrists that were pushing against his chest and lowered them over Merlin's head, pushing them hard into the wooden floor.

"Please," Merlin whimpered, "g-get off."

"Oh, but you must be punished my beautiful Merlin." He removed one hand from above Merlin but kept the other one holding down both his wrists. He slid the free hand slowly under the warlock's tunic, then all the way up to his chest and back again. "Shh, quiet down."

Merlin started squirming, trying to get out of Merek's grip, but that only seemed to aggravate the sorcerer further.

The man growled, then leaned down and bit Merlin's collarbone through his tunic.

He cried out in pain.

"Too many clothes." Merek muttered. He released Merlin's wrists and while Merlin's hands went straight to clutching his collarbone, the sorcerer went straight to the side of his boot and pulled out a dagger. Merek pulled at the bottom of Merlin's shirt and raised it up a little. He pressed the knife down in the middle until it tore straight through the fabric, he then the cut the rest of the way down in a quick motion. The sorcerer grabbed the ends of the split tunic and pulled them apart, causing it to rip the rest of the way open.

"No!" Merlin screamed once his attention was diverted from his collar bone.

Merek grabbed the warlock's wrists again and laid them out to his sides. He bent down and started trailing kisses all over Merlin's chest, sucking and biting his way across.

"Help me! Merlin screamed. "Somebody!" He cried.

"No one is going to come for you Merlin, nobody cares for you." He taunted.

A choked sob escaped Merlin's mouth and tears began to fall. His bottom lip quivered as he spoke, "p-please leave me alone."

"No can do." He replied, and the next thing Merlin knew, his wrists were once again nailed to the ground over his head. Merek released a hand and brought it down over Merlin's crotch, he palmed him through his trousers.

"No." Merlin whimpered. "No, stop please. Ah, stop, stop stop. No... Arthur!"

"Oh, you poor thing, your not even in Camelot anymore and your precious Prince can't save you now." A dark chuckled echoed through the room.

Merlin screamed.

Merek squeezed Merlin's crotch before he moved his hand to his waistband and started sliding his cold fingers into the warmth of Merlin's trousers.

Merlin started to move frantically, he wigged from side to side and jerked back and forth trying to get out of Merek's grip before his hand reached the one place Merlin wished he'd never touch.

But just before his hand could reach, the door opened up.

Merek abruptly pulled his hand out and quickly scrambled up from the ground.

"Help me." Merlin croaked.

"I-it's not what it looks like." The warlock heard Merek utter, and then seconds later, he heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.

He heard quick, approaching footsteps, and then a soothing voice he recognized.

"Merlin? Merlin, can you hear me?"

"Cade?" The warlock opened his eyes, and saw the blurry figure of his friend.

The next thing he knew there were hands on his chest and that's all it took for Merlin to quickly sit up and slide away from the knight and bring his knees to his chest in the corner of the room.

"I'm sorry, Merlin, I was just inspecting what he did to you, I didn't mean to hurt you." Cade muttered.

The warlock was shaking and rocking back and forth as tears streamed down his face, muttering nonsense.

Cade squeezed his eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears. "My god Merlin, what has he done to you?"

The Raven haired boy just kept muttering to himself which worried the knight. "I'm going to get Alex."

"Alex?" Merlin whimpered.

"Yes, I'm going to get the Prince."

* * *

Cade dragged Merek out of the room and carelessly dumped the limp body into the corridor. He ran from Merlin's chambers, the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he made his way towards Alex's chambers. He was panicking.

His friend was just assaulted and he had no idea what to do. He knew that Merlin was closest to Alex, so maybe the Prince could help him cope.

He climbed up the stairs and shouted at the guards to open the door. They did so accordingly and Cade shot through the door and into the halls of the castle. He knew the directions to Alex's room by heart and made it there in record time. He was about to burst through the doors when the guards on either side of the doors stopped him.

"State your business."

"I need Alex."

"We can't let you in unless it's an emergency, the Prince is sleeping."

"It is an emergency!" Cade yelled.

"What is the emergency?" The other guard asked.

"Alex!" Cade screamed.

The guards pulled out their sword just as the Prince's doors opened up.

"Cade?" The Prince questioned. "What's going on?"

"Sire, it's Merlin."

Alex's face crumbled the moment he heard the name. "What happened?"

"I'll explain to you when we get there but we have to hurry." Cade replied.

"Alright, come on." Alex jogged past Cade, and it wasn't long before they both were at a near sprint.

* * *

When Alex noticed the unconscious body of Merek outside Merlin's chambers, he knew it was bad. He pushed down his anger and took a deep breath before opening the door. What he wasn't prepared for was an obvious distressed Merlin.

"W-what?" Alex croaked out when he took in the ripped tunic and red wrists.

"Alex, he was... sexually assaulted, I got here just in time." Cade's voice broke mid sentence.

The Prince clenched his fists in anger. Oh when he gets his hands on Merek he will strangle the life out of him. Sexual assault? Merlin was such a nice and innocent guy, he didn't deserve this. It disgusted him to no prevail when he thought more on it, but he managed to hold back the urge to vomit.

He took shaky steps towards the warlock, and when he finally reached the vulnerable figure in the corner, he bent down next to him. He put a tentative hand on his shoulder but quickly took it back when Merlin jerked.

"Merlin, it's alright, it's me, Alex." The king soothed.

"Alex?" The Prince's heart shattered when he heard the broken voice of his friend, he sounded like a scared little boy.

"Yes, I'm here."

"A-lex." Merlin sobbed. The warlock pitifully crawled over to the Prince and buried his head in his chest and fisted the fabric of his tunic. He felt safe in the Prince's arms.

"Oh Merlin." Alex uttered as he wrapped his arms around the warlock and drew him in closer, holding him to his chest. He began rocking back and forth, trying to get him to calm down. "Shhh, it's okay Merlin, I'm so sorry. I'll never let this happen to you again, I promise. I'm so sorry, shh."


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N:**_

 ** _This is the last chapter that will take place in the first month. There will be a time jump in the next one and in two or three more chapters I will start the games :)! PLEASE REVIEW!_**

* * *

Alex stood with his arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked at the three men in front of him. He had finally just gotten Merlin to fall asleep when the rest of his Knights walked in with James.

"May I ask what you three are doing here this late at night?" The Prince spoke with annoyance.

"Well, we... we-"

"We were looking for you, sire." James quickly interrupted Lucas. "We overheard a group of maids talking about how you ran past them as if there was some kind of emergency."

Alex nodded. He opened his mouth to answer but abruptly clamped his mouth shut. He looked over to the bed he had just managed to put Merlin in. He came to a decision.

"It was an emergency." He admitted.

His Knights instinctively reached for their swords.

Alex sighed, "no, not that kind of emergency."

Lucas and Matthew both relaxed, but Matthew seemed to pick up on what was not said. He met his Prince's eyes with worry.

"What emergency?"

He looked once more at the lump in the bed before running a hand through his hair.

"Did you three happen to see a body on your way in here?"

Alex watched as his men opened and closed their mouths a few times, none knowing how to actually respond to that. They had been too worried about the 'emergency' with their Prince to pay more attention to their surroundings. All they knew was that the Prince had gone down to the competitors corridors, and they concluded that the only person he would have come for was Merlin.

Lucas was the first one to speak.

"No, sire, we didn't notice anyone."

Alex buried his head in his hands, trying desperately to suppress a groan.

"Great, he must of left, who knows where he is now."

James picked up on his friend's distress and tried to relieve some of his tension.

"Alex, surely we didn't notice anyone as we were to determined to look for you. Maybe if we just look..."

"No." Alex held up a hand. "Even if you think you could have missed him in your state of worry, I assure you that as you are all trained Knights, if you did see someone you would've been alert thanks to your observation skills."

All three nodded in understanding.

James hesitated before speaking, "Who is this man that you speak of?"

Alex opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Cade walking in. The Prince's eyes widened before he turned around at the empty space behind him.

"Cade!" The Prince yelped. "I- I didn't realize you left..."

Cade gaped.

"Oh, I- I thought I told you that I was going to to go drag Merek's unconscious arse to the dungeons. But, I guess you were too busy comforting Merlin." He finished with a sly grin.

All three of his most trusted's eyebrows shot up at Cade's remark. All three in turn then moved their heads towards the sleeping form of none other than Merlin on his bed, then back to Alex. Eyes now wide as saucers.

Alex glanced between the two and then came to the same realization as them.

"No!" he shrieked, "Is that all you got from that statement?"

James cocked his head to the side as he tried to recall what his friend had said. He knew he got it when his eyes widened in recognition.

"Merek, and, you were comforting Merlin..."

Lucas seemed to finally catch along, as he finished James' thoughts.

"Something happened to Merlin, what is it?"

Cade bit his lip. He wasn't sure if Merlin would want anyone else to know what had happened to him, but he knew that it was information that his friends had to know if they were going to side with them. Though James didn't know it yet, it was best to not keep this from Merlin's brother. With his mind made up, he spoke before Alex could.

"Merlin was sexually assaulted.. by Merek."

Silence.

Alex's heart sped up faster as those words once again rang through his ears. He clenched his fists and tried to control his breathing but all that did was make it come out in ragged breaths.

James was the first to recover from his shock.

"I," he cleared his throat when it came out higher than normal, "I don't understand why I feel so much anger towards Merek, I know people are supposed to feel this way towards those who do these despicable things, but the anger I feel towards Merek surpasses all of that. It is an anger filled with pure hatred and longing to give him a brutal death. Is it so wrong of me to want that? For him doing such a thing to a practical stranger?"

At the moment, Cade wanted nothing more than to scream out that it was normal. That it was so very appropriate to feel that way when a monster attacked your brother. But he made a promise with Merlin, and he would wait for the sorcerer to tell him on his own time.

"I feel the same."

Shocked eyes turned towards Matthew.

"Obviously not at the same degree as you." He gestured a hand towards James. "But, I am angry, way more than I should be. I get this sense of security when I'm near him, like, as long as I'm by his side nothing bad could happen to me. I feel like I could trust him with my life and the lives of those closest to me. There's something about him that I just can't name, I think that ever since he saved your life Alex, he became one of us. Though I have barely spoken to the boy, I feel an urge to protect him, and it's more than of what we as Knights are supposed to do. Believe it or not, he is our friend. And that, I believe James, is why you feel this way."

"It's so very wrong to be friends with a competitor. You know what will happen if we all get to close," Lucas started, "He won't make it back from the games and then we'll all be in a depression, mourning the loss of a close friend."

Cade and Alex exchanged worried glances.

"It's to late for that." Alex sighed. "I've already gotten to close with the boy."

"As have I." Cade spoke up.

Lucas furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"

Alex looked over at Cade for reassurance, and gained confidence when he gave a brief nod. The Prince stood up straighter and gave his best stoic face.

"I am training Merlin."

James gasped. "That's treason."

"So be it. I felt a connection with this young man since the moment we first made eye contact. He belongs in my life and I know it. To have him go into the games improperly trained will evidently get him killed. How could I let him walk straight in to his death when he saved my life? How could I just let him die when I have the knowledge and experience to make him better?"

Alex looked around at the sullen expressions on his friends faces.

"I trust you guys enough to have told you this, I expect you as my most trusted to not breath a word of this to anyone, especially my father."

James squawked in protest.

"Alex!"

"James." He growled, "Do you know what would happen to Merlin and I if he knew? If you really think of me as your friend you wouldn't do it. You wouldn't dare."

They stared at each other, none daring to look away until James sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

Alex looked expectantly at the other two.

"I'm loyal to you, and only you sire." Matthew spoke.

"As am I." Lucas smiled.

"I really appreciate this guys, it means a lot more to me than you could understand."

"Yes, well," James began, "are we just going to leave Merlin here all by himself for the rest of the night?"

Alex was quick to respond, he had already thought about this. "No, I will be sleeping with him here. Cade..."

"Yes sire?"

"Could you please bring me a bedroll?"

The knight nodded. Just as he was about to leave, James spoke.

"Make that two."

"Make it three." Lucas spoke up.

"How about four?" Matthew responded.

Cade smirked, "I'll make it five."

In that moment, Alex knew that he was surrounded by the people he valued most, the people he loved the most. These were the men that he would go to hell in back for, these were the people that he would die for.

Merlin included.

* * *

 _"Your so beautiful. I can't believe I'm going to get to have my way with you."_

Merlin say bolt upright in bed. Panting as the moments from earlier that night flooded his mind. He brought his knees slowly up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them trying to find a place of security. He silently wept as he felt the tears slowly make their way down his cheeks and onto his naked chest. He felt dirty and vulnerable and wanted nothing more than to be back in Camelot with Gaius, Arthur, Gwen, and even Sir Leon. He yearned for his old life back.

He was distracted out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The warlock gasped in fear and started to move away.

"Merlin!" The person hissed. "It's okay, it's me Merlin, it's me James."

James? Merlin thought to himself. He couldn't see anything in the pitch darkness of his room, but the voice did sound like his.

"J-James?"

"Yes, it's me Merlin." He said again.

The warlock reached a hand out and vigorously waved it around until he hit what felt like a soft tunic. He touch and felt it, he grasped it once he realized it was an arm.

Merlin started to cry once more for unknown reasons as he felt the need to get it all out again.

James sighed then made a decision to climb onto the bed. Once he did so, he laid down and hugged the warlock, letting him cry into his shoulder. He rubbed circles onto his back trying to comfort the young man. It surprisingly felt normal, like he was supposed to do this, like it was his job to ease the warlock.

Merlin felt safe in James' arms. His brother's arms. He now knew what others meant when they talked about brotherly love, or the love one feels for their sibling. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around James in turn, seeking that familiar warmth he always felt when near the other man. Although he hadn't know James for very long, he still felt at home, something he hadn't had the knowledge of knowing since he left for Camelot. This was his blood, his kin, and he would do everything to protect this man, the only thing human he had left of his father.

"Shh." James soothed as he attempted to calm him down. "Your safe Merlin, we won't let anything bad happen to you."

Merlin didn't think much of the 'we' that he spoke of, but he did calm down tremendously at his brother's kind words. There was no doubt that he believed them, he knew with every fiber in his body that those words were spoken with nothing less than sincerity. With those words echoing in his head, Merlin fell into a fitful slumber wrapped in his brothers' arms.

* * *

It was in the early hours of the morning when there was a crash.

Alex woke up with a start. He stood up right away and instinctively reached for the sword at his side. He noticed all of his Knights were doing the same except for James who was awake, except holding a sleeping Merlin in his arms.

When he looked at the intruder he took in the wide eyes and then the silver tray lying on the ground with meats, fruits, and cheeses scattered across the hard wood floor in front of him.

It was just Merlin's servant.

"M-my lord!" The servant quickly bowed.

The Prince inwardly cursed. He had totally forgotten about the servant that would get Merlin ready for the day. Just thinking about that made him realize that Merlin probably wouldn't want this man to dress him this morning considering what had happened last night. There was only one thing he could do.

"Go upstairs and grab another tray of foods, don't bother cleaning this up I will get someone to do it later. I won't need you to dress Merlin today, we will take care of that. You just come back tomorrow."

He may have been a little harsh but he could honestly care less after this boy had made such a ruckus.

The servant just gaped at him.

Alex growled.

"That's an order!"

The servant broke into a run and fled the room in the matter of seconds it took for Alex to blink.

Cade shot Alex a glare and he thought it was because he had scared the poor servant but that was until he heard a moan come from the bed.

"You idiot!" Cade hissed. "You just woke him up!"

Alex scowled.

All the knights stared at James and Merlin expectantly, but as it turns out, Merlin just shifted into a more comfortable position in James' arms. He buried his face more into the sorcerers chest.

Lucas sniggered and James shot him a glare.

"Awh," Cade murmured. "Brother bonding."

The Knight's face changed from adoration to one of fear.

James furrowed his brows and looked quizzically at Cade.

"Did you just say brother?"

Cade's eyes were wide as he kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to think of something to say.

"Y-you guys just l-look like brothers is all, you look related you know, cause of the... Um black hair, yeah."

For some reason, James looked almost hurt at the answer he received. "Oh."

"Wait." Matthew spoke up. "Why are you holding him?"

James looked down at the warlock in his arms. He looked like an angel, like he couldn't harm a single hair on anyone. He looked so utterly innocent that he couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips.

"He was crying last night so I went up here and comforted him."

Alex cursed himself again for not being there for his friend.

"Well... Should we wake him?" Matthew asked. "He has training soon."

Alex though for a moment. "Yeah, I guess."

He turned to James. "Wake him up gently, try not to scare him."

The sorcerer nodded.

"Merlin." James whispered as he began to softly shake the warlock. "Time to get up."

"Mmph."

"This is too cute." Cade beamed.

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Merlin." James spoke in a more commanding voice.

Merlin's eyes opened slowly to the dim room. The only light was from the torch out in the corridor. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, trying to clear his blurry vision. When he opened his eyes again he gasped.

"W-what?" He sat up quickly and James released him and after, spoke a quick spell to light up the candles hat littered the room. Lucas closed the door.

"Merlin!" Alex walked forward and stopped the man from doing something he'd regret.

He looked up and met Alex's familiar green eyes. "What's going on?"

A wave of pity washed over the Prince. "I stayed here tonight just in case you woke up and needed something, and well... My friends volunteered to stay too."

The warlock turned around and looked at everyone separately. He stopped when his eyes landed on James lying on the bed beside him. The word 'brother' came to mind again. He game him a small smile.

"Thank you." He said once he turned back around to the Prince.

"It's the least we could do."

Merlin bit his lip and looked away.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"What happened to..." Merlin couldn't even say the name, "him."

Alex knew who he met and tensed when he thought about it again. This time he managed to push down his anger.

"Right now, he's locked up." Alex looked up but his comrades all refused to meet his gaze. "However, he will have to be released soon."

Merlin closed his eyes.

"I know." He whispered, sounding so broken.

Alex's eyes watered but from years of experience, he held back the tears. "I will go to Lord Mason and tell him to relieve you of your training today."

Merlin looked up with hopeful eyes.

"Unfortunately, I will have to tell him why. He will go to Merek's trainer and tell him to keep a leash on his competitor, believe it or not, he does care for you."

Merlin inwardly cringed every time he heard Merek's name. He tried to forget what had happened last night and was just greatful that Cade had gotten there in time. He remembered when Mason defended him against Zerek before his evaluation. This was just another example of how bi polar the lord was. But to hear that he cared about him...

"How do you know this?"

Alex smiled.

"Lord Mason is the last victor. He was a sorcerer who grew up and trained here in Arudus. I knew him growing up, though we were not that close, we still talked. He's older than me by two years."

"So your are..."

"I'm twenty three. But that's not the point." Alex went serious again. "Your trainer may seem strict and emotionless but he actually does care for you, and he does want you to win. It's his job to advise you and train you, mentally and physically."

Merlin smiled.

"Like you."

Alex couldn't help but return it. "Like me."

"Sorry to break the moment but... How long has this illegal training thing been going on?" James asked.

"A week." Alex gritted out.

James raised his eyebrows.

"And how did you guys manage to do this without getting caught?"

Alex bit his bottom lip. James was one of his best friends but he was so against the idea of him training Merlin. However, he did say that he'd keep it a secret.

"He uses the siege tunnels."

James shot upright in the bed.

"That's illegal too!"

"James, I hate to acknowledge this but I hope your not forgetting who I am."

James was seething with anger.

"Alex, I'm just trying to look out for the both of you."

The Prince scoffed.

"You don't think I know that? You don't think I know the consequences of this? I say, damn the consequences! I'm not letting Merlin walk into his own death!"

"He's already got a trainer, Lord Mason!"

"Yes but he isn't teaching him anything useful!"

Merlin had enough.

"Stop it!"

Whatever James was about to say didn't make it out before Merlin stopped them all.

"Merlin's right." Lucas spoke up. "James, Alex is teaching Merlin and that is final. He is your Prince and you must obey him."

"I know."

It was silent for a awhile.

"I don't mean to offend you... Any of you." Merlin began.

All eyes were on him.

"But I just have one question that I've been itching to know."

"Go on..." James prompted.

Merlin took a deep breath. "How can you guys tolerate this? All of this?"

The guys looked confused.

"I'm not following." Matthew spoke.

Merlin sighed. "What I mean is... How can you just sit there and watch young men kill each other every five years? How could you guys watch twelve guys train everyday for eight months only for them to die in the end? How can you wake up every day and not be disgusted with yourselves?"

All five men were astonished. They gaped at the warlock in front of them.

A tear slipped out of Merlin's eye.

"Merlin..." Alex began.

"How?" Merlin looked up at him with watery eyes. "Your the Prince. You can stop this! Surely you know how inhumane all this is?"

"We do."

Merlin turned around when Cade spoke.

"We know that it's not right, but there's nothing we can do, we have a tyrant for a king."

"Cade!" Alex yelled.

"I'm sorry Alex!" Cade yelled back. "I hate to say this but your father does not care for you. I see the way he looks at you and it's all envy..."

Alex couldn't stop the tears this time, "Stop it."

"He despises you and could care less if you died! He only cares about power and his own sorcerer army. He killed your mother."

"I said stop it!" The Prince screamed as he lunged for his knight.

But James was quicker and spit out a protection spell before he could reach him.

Alex hit the golden shield, he stumbled back and glared at James.

"Release the spell." He growled.

"No Alex." James responded.

"I said-"

"Alex!"

Merlin. That was Merlin's voice calling him. Sweet, innocent Merlin.

He turned around and saw that he was crying to. For the same reasons... he didn't know.

"I'm sorry." Alex uttered.

Merlin got up and made his way over.

"It's okay Alex."

The Prince certainly wasn't expecting what happened next. Merlin embraced him.

"I'm sorry." He said again but in a whisper. "I'm sorry we kidnapped you." A choked sob escaped his lips. "I'm sorry that... that your going to have to fight for your life in almost 7 months. I'm trying the best I can to help you win. I'm so sorry."

"It's going to be hard Alex." Merlin stated as he still clung on to the Prince. "Not only because it will take time for me to learn... But because these games are unfair. Only those from this kingdom are expected to win-"

"I know." Alex cried. "But I thought this time I could make you better, that I could-"

"Shh Alex. You can make me better. You will. I believe in you and I will try with all I have to win these games. To prove your father wrong."

"I know." _And I'm so so sorry._


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N:**_

 ** _Forgive me if I went too fast, but I can't spend all my time writing so many chapters on what happened the eight months before the games so here is the chapter that sums the eight months all up! This is my longest chapter, 6000 words. The games will start soon and there will be a sequel btw! I have a lot planned. I hope my writing is not terrible, anyway, Please Review! Hope you enjoy :)_**

* * *

"Rise and Shine!"

Arthur groaned when he heard the annoying voice manservant. He opened his eyes a tad but quickly squeezed them shut again when he was blinded by a bright light.

"Go away." Arthur grunted as he pulled up the red comforter over his head to block out the sunlight. He sighed in relief when darkness once again took over.

It wasn't long before he felt the slender hands of Merlin wrapping around his exposed wrist.

"Ar-thur," Merlin gritted out as he pulled on his wrist.

The Prince barely moved.

Arthur sighed dramatically into his pillow, "You have absolutely no muscle Merlin, so don't expect to m-woah!"

He was suddenly pulled off the bed by a strong force, hitting the ground with a thump, face down.

"Sire."

Arthur heard Merlin gasp, and oh did he have a right to be scared.

"Arthur! Are your alright?"

Hearing his servants concerned voice made him seethe even more.

He slowly lifted his face off the floor. His eyes slowly ascended up his manservants frail body until he met his fearful eyes.

Arthur growled.

Merlin held his hands in front of him like you would to calm a dog down. That just made Arthur madder considering he was certainly not a dog.

Arthur started to push himself up to his knees as Merlin began backing up.

"Sire."

"Arthur, please forgive me, I didn't mean to pull on you so hard." Merlin pleaded.

The Prince looked to his left and noticed his goblet sitting on the table. Perfect.

He scooted real fast on his knees to the table and grabbed the goblet in a death grip, then turned raging eyes on his servant.

He chucked the goblet towards Merlin, but unfortunately he was able to dodge it, causing the cup to bang against the wall behind him.

Now he was furious.

"10, 9, 8..." He started to count down.

Merlin's eyes widened and he glanced at the door and then back again.

Arthur nodded.

"5, 4..."

And then Merlin ran.

"Sire!"

Arthur sucked In a breath as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that something was blocking his view of his window, light streamed in, hitting everything around him but his face. He looked up into the eyes of his temporary manservant.

"Good morning sire."

No emotion whatsoever.

Arthur sighed, "George."

What was worse than having George be the first thing he saw everyday, was the fact that Merlin wasn't really here, it was only a dream. A memory actually. He didn't know why he dreamed about that specific event, but he did know that he wouldn't have allowed anyone else to have dragged a him out of bed and have gotten away with it. Nobody but Merlin.

Arthur hadn't realized how much his servant meant to him until he was actually gone. He relied on him to entertain him when he was bored, when he needed advice, someone to talk to, or needed something done. Merlin didn't treat him like he was a god, he treated him like a real person, an equal... a friend.

It was strange. He was the first person to not want something from him. He didn't want money, could care less about status, and did not think of it as an honor to serve the Prince of Camelot. It made Arthur think about what Merlin wanted, what his true intentions are. Arthur knew he didn't treat Merlin as well as he could and that Merlin could get a better job with the same pay. So if Merlin didn't care about what serving the Prince could offer him, then why did he stick around? Why would he want to serve such a prat of a prince? He knew Merlin cared enough about him to sacrifice his life for him, but... why?

The moment Arthur turned around and saw the big eared, raven haired boy for the first time he felt the world stop spinning. He felt as if time stopped and he couldn't breath. It was at that moment that Merlin had imprinted himself inside of Arthur, made him apart of himself. Having seen him that first day filled something inside of Arthur, it filled up something that he didn't realize was empty. All he knew was that he felt whole for the first time in his life. But now, as he was staring at his boring manservant George, he realized that he didn't feel that wholeness anymore. He felt like he did before he met Merlin, incomplete. It was as if Merlin was his other half, the sibling he never had.

Brother in all but blood.

Today marks the end of month one since Merlin went missing. Only two weeks ago he got his first lead, but it was all a dead end. Gaius found nothing on the sigil, and he hadn't heard from the sorcerer since.

His father had increased the number of search parties for Morgana and Merlin, but still no sign of either one of them.

"Sire." George spoke impatiently, "I have brought you your breakfast."

His eyes moved to the table behind his servant. _Were those... Peas?_

He made a face of disgust.

"Vegetables? Since when do I get served vegetables with my breakfast?"

George cocked his head to the side.

"Vegetables are healthy for you sire. They provide you energy for the day ahead."

So that was it. George thought he wasn't as energetic and active as he used to be. Well it wasn't his fault that his best friend was taken from him.

Arthur sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. His skin on the palm of his hand tickled when he grazed over the stubble across his jaw. He really needed to save.

The Prince grunted as he sat up in bed. He squinted when the lights from the window hit his eyes. It was just like in his dream.

As the Prince got up and made his way over to the tray full of vegetables and fruits, his manservant thought it would be a good idea to talk again.

"Did you know that there are countless items made out of brass? There is jewelry, candle holders, serving dishes-"

"Yes, that's quite nice George." Arthur interrupted him. There wasn't a single moment when the guy talked about anything other than brass. It was a sick obsession.

Arthur ate in silence as George cleaned up around the room.

He wasn't taking care of himself, he knew that much judging by the sudden appearance of a beard that would appear on his face, or the fact that he skips an entire meal when he doesn't feel like eating. He doesn't train the Knights as much as he used to nor does he talk as freely. He spends most of his days locked up in his chambers sulking.

Speaking of not having an appetite, Arthur pushed his tray to the side after a few bites. He wasn't feeling it today.

George seemed to have picked up on his movements since he abruptly stopped making up his bed and glanced over at him.

"Not hungry my lord?"

"No." He replied.

"Would you like me to help you into your attire for the day?"

"No thank you, that will be all George."

"Sire?"

Arthur finally looked over at his servant. "I said, that will be all."

George bowed.

"Yes my lord." He spoke before scurrying out of the room.

He hated this. This empty feeling that made him yearn to be complete again. He wanted, no, he needed Merlin. This was the worst, most depressing month that he had ever lived through. A life without that man by his side was no life at all. He felt as if he'd rather die than feel like this, and he had no clue why. Arthur knew that if it came down to himself and Merlin, he would chose the other to survive. Not only is it honorable and the proper thing to do, but he wouldn't survive a day knowing that he was gone, or that he was living but Merlin was not.

The Prince felt the hot sting of tears behind his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling to try and keep them in his eyes, however one slipped, and so he had enough.

He abruptly stood up and pushed the tray of foods off the table. It fell with a clang and all of its contents scattered across the floor. He grabbed his chair and slammed in onto the ground, causing a leg to break off with a snap. He yelled an almost battle cry before he used the last of his adrenaline high to flip his table over. It hit the hard ground with a bang. He walked over to his bed and pulled it apart, sheet from sheet, distributing pillows all over the room.

That was all it took before Arthur fell to his knees throughout the mess he had made. He let the tears fall this time as he buried his face in his hands. His racking sobs filled the room. All of his build up from the past month came out at that moment. It was just too hard.

"Sire?" Guards knocked on the door. No doubt they heard all the commotion from down the hall. "Sire, is everything alright? Are you okay?"

 _No_.

* * *

Merlin would never forget what had happened to him that night. He will never forget the way Merek had made him feel... Violated, disgusted, weak. He will never forget the way he felt when his brother held him in his arms as if as long as he stayed there, everything would be alright in the world. He will never forget how he felt waking up to the people who would become his future friends. He will never forget.

'Life is hard.' You hear that statement all the time. To you, there are different levels of hard. Whether your citadel becomes under seize, or you are captured and enslaved, everyone's definition of 'hard' is different. When you get into that tough situation you often say to yourself, 'stop complaining, there's always someone suffering worse out there in the world than you are.'

Merlin said that to himself everyday.

It wasn't Alex, James, Cade, or any of his knew friends that were bad. It wasn't the bed, the food, his new clothes, no. It was the day to day struggle of getting up in the mornings and going to work, a different kind of work surely. The one where you may be benefiting but still going through hell at the same time. He understood it was a must, a necessity to undergo two training sessions twice a day for the remainder of his stay. He knew that if he wanted to make it out alive, to make history, that he'd have to become bigger, better, faster, and stronger... more powerful.

It was hard waking up every night in a cold sweat. Dreaming about Merek and his wicked ways, his immoral advances, or his vicious beatings. It didn't matter if he never saw him during the day anymore, he still saw his face every night.

The rest of the first month passed quickly and it soon turned to the second. Not much changed other than the new found familiarity he felt with the other knights. Some visited after his training sessions with Alex. Lucas and Matthew on some days, while Cade or James came on the others. They talked with him and he absorbed it all, taking in everything he learned about them.

Lucas and Matthew were practically joined at the hip. They were best friends and did everything together. It certainly brought a smile to his face as he thought of Will and himself. They were both twenty four summers.

Cade was a different story. He was twenty three just like Alex but more outgoing and energetic. He frequently got into mischief which didn't surprise Merlin at all the first time he heard it. Apparently, the knight enjoyed stealing treats from the kitchens even if he got a smack on then head from the head chefs ladle. He constantly pulled pranks on the other Knights and his favorite to mess with was James.

James was a calm man who took his station seriously. He was a powerful sorcerer who started learning at the age of eight. He was the most powerful magic user these people had ever seen. (They obviously hadn't even seen what Merlin could do yet.)

James rarely came to see Merlin but when he did, the warlock relinquished in the moments he got to spend with his older brother. Not telling the truth was eating him alive, but it wasn't the right moment, not yet. However, the topic of his name did become discussed one evening.

* * *

 _"So..." Merlin started out casually as he tried not to be too obvious. "I heard from Cade that you were interested in someone named Emrys."_

 _James' eyes snapped up to meet his._

 _He scoffed._

 _"What? Are you going to tease me about it too? Tell me he isn't out there and that he's just some silly myth like the rest of them?"_

 _What Merlin said next caught him by surprise._

 _"No." He spoke defiantly. "I'd never do that."_

 _James spluttered, "W-What?"_

 _Merlin leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "The man you speak of, is very real."_

 _James tilted his head as he tried to assess the man in front of him. "How-"_

 _"Emrys is of prophecy, is he not?"_

 _"Well- um, yes but-"_

 _"That's why your friends don't believe you, am I correct?"_

 _James sighed._

 _"Yes."_

 _"I'll say it again, Emrys is real."_

* * *

Merlin told them a little bit about himself in return. He talked about growing up in Ealdor, some of his adventures with Arthur, and a few facts about himself. Nothing to give himself away of course.

Alex worked Merlin harder, causing the poor warlock to come back to bed with aches and bruises. He worked him hard with a sword, and wouldn't stop until he got whatever new skill he was trying to teach him right... Multiple times. But overall, the Prince was a fantastic teacher.

Lord Mason was as bi polar as ever. Nice when he arrived and seething as he left the training field. It wasn't Merlin's fault that it took time to gain muscle.

The second month soon turned into the third. No sign of Merek or any other sorcerers crossed his path. Alex and his training sessions were still kept secret, and Merlin was getting better and better.

There was a strange occurrence that had happened one day...

 _Alex was running late to his training session one day due to a long council meeting._

 _"Are you sure your okay here by yourself? I would stay but I promised-"_

 _"Cade," Merlin interrupted the knight, "I'm fine, and I promise you I will not run away."_

 _Cade's eyes widened._

 _"Merlin, I trust you."_

 _"I know, I know." Merlin smirked. "I trust you too." He spoke, feeling as if he should return the favor, "now go!"_

 _The warlock pushed the knight towards the way they came._

 _Cade laughed._

 _"Okay, okay, I'm going."_

 _Merlin chuckled as he watched Cade's retreating form._

 _It was quiet in the forest. The only sounds were coming from the crickets, and the occasional hoot of an owl. That was, until Merlin heard a screeching noise._

 _It didn't sound human, that was for sure. As the sound got louder and louder, his heart beat faster and faster. This noise could draw attention, he could get caught and who knows what King Edward would do to him._

 _He looked up when there was rustling in the trees above. He spun around and tried to find out which direction the thing was coming from. It wasn't long before something shot out of the tree and landed on the ground before him._

 _It was a bird withering on the ground, squawking as if in dire need of attention._

 _The ever physician that Merlin was took over instantly. He knelt down and assessed the bird for injuries. There, on its right wing was blood. Judging from the way the bird crashed to the ground told Merlin that it could no longer fly._

 _The warlock reached down with a hesitant hand to comfort the bird, perhaps to use magic to relieve it's pain, or even heal the bird. His hand stopped, hovering over the bird as his eyes focused on the silver bracelet on his wrist . He cursed inwardly at the sight of the thing._

 _Merlin didn't have time to retreat his hand before the bird gave one last squawk. Not from pain, but from delight. He immediately felt the sting of pain as the bird pierced his flesh with its beak. The warlock slowly moved his hand back, trying hard not to hurt the bird worse, but the bird had clamped on the skin of his hand with a strong grip. He felt the sting grow worse when there was a slippery texture on his new bleeding wounds._

 _The bird was drinking his blood._

 _"Off! Off!" Merlin shrieked, now shaking his hand violently. "shoo!"_

 _That only made the bird bite down harder causing Merlin to yelp in pain._

 _He finally relented and relaxed his hand for a moment, watching as the birds head bobbed back and forth as it sucked his blood._

 _A soft golden glow suddenly started to appear from inside the bird's injured wing._

 _"What?"_

 _The light grew bigger until it's whole wing was covered in the golden aurora. As soon as it had come, it disappeared. Fading slowly back to nothing._

 _What was left of the wing was... Everything._

 _The bird finally detached itself from Merlin hand and stood up on its thin legs. It's wing was completely healed, back to normal. It ruffled its feathers once, turned to Merlin and let out a final squawk before it took off, soaring into the sky once again._

 _"Impossible," Merlin spoke softly to himself._

 _"What is?"_

 _Merlin whipped around fast, and stood up abruptly when Alex suddenly emerged from the thick trees._

 _"I- I didn't realize you were there." Merlin spoke nervously._

 _Alex glanced down and noticed his new wound._

 _"Merlin, your bleeding."_

 _He stepped closer._

 _"It's just a scratch." Merlin responded, taking a step back when Alex tried to reach for his hand._

 _The Prince gave him an incredulous look._

 _"Your hurt."_

 _Merlin looked away._

 _"It was just a roc-"_

 _"Really? Because it sure doesn't look like just a rock to me." Alex stated. "It looks like something took a chunk of your skin off."_

* * *

In Month four Alex deemed Merlin worthy enough with a sword.

 _Alex swung his sword and Merlin blocked it with a parry._

 _At this point, The Prince had taught him everything he knows. All things that he explained and showed to Merlin, he absorbed. From blocks to blows, how to gain speed, momentum, how to be stealth. What to do on defense and offense, even how to trick your opponent. It helped a great deal when Mason was giving him strength training. It made learning how to fight with a sword a lot easier._

 _As Alex jumped back to avoid a swipe from Merlin, he couldn't help but think about how much of a challenge it was to fight against him. He had truly mastered the art of swordplay._

 _When Alex jumped back, Merlin took the opportunity to go through with a beat attack. The Prince's sword was shining in the sunlight, right there for the taking._

 _The warlock gave out a cry before he started profusely pounding on Alex's sword._

 _Right, left, right, left, right, left, and again._

 _When he noticed Alex starting to tire out, he took the opportunity to use his trick against him. With one quick twist of the wrist and a swipe to the side, Alex's sword tumbled to the ground._

 _Merlin held out his sword, it rested on Alex's chest._

 _"Yield."_

 _At first the Prince was shocked, but then his expression morphed into one of pure glee. He was beaming._

 _Alex put his gloved hand on the blade and pushed it to the side. He quickly advanced on the warlock and enveloped him in a hug._

 _"I'm so proud of you." He murmured in the crook of Merlin's neck._

 _Merlin dropped his sword and let it clamor to the ground. He slowly wrapped his arms around Alex's back, a little shocked at the sudden endearment._

 _"Thank you, Alex," he whispered, "For everything."_

 _The moment soon came to an end when Alex patted his back and took a step back._

 _"Well, we still have about an hour left, what do you say you finally learn how to make a bullseye with a dagger?"_

 _Merlin smiled, "I'd like that."_

* * *

Month five, Merlin gets stronger.

 _The big Boulder that Mason tried to get him to move on his first week was back, and right in front of him._

 _Last time he barely made it half way across the training field before he collapsed in a heap of sweat._

 _He bent down a little and laid both his palms flat in front of the boulder. The Rock was rough and hard under his calloused hands._

 _He prayed that with all the heavy lifting, running, and rock throwing, he could finally be able to reach the desired goal._

 _Merlin took a step back and bent his knees. He was ready for this._

 _"Go." Mason commanded._

 _"Er." Merlin pushed as hard as he could. What he thought was going to be extremely hard, wasn't so bad. Once he started, it was hard to stop._

 _It was working more of the muscles in his legs. He pushed off the grass terrain with his feet, digging his toes in the ground. He used that as a way to propel himself forwards, to not lose his footing and slip._

 _The vein in his neck bulged, and so did the ones in his tan arms. Another result from strength training._

 _He reached the halfway mark. Beads of Sweat slowly trickled down his forehead._

 _"Come on, come on!" Mason encouraged him._

 _He cried out as he began to push with the last of his strength._

 _Soon the Boulder stopped moving, and for a second he thought that he could no longer push the rock, but then, when he looked up, he noticed that the other side of the Boulder was resting against the stone grey wall._

 _Merlin fell to his knees and gave a wan smile. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder and met the proud eyes of his trainer._

 _"You finally did it." The lord stated._

 _Merlin gave a weak laugh, still getting a giddy feeling from his accomplishment and the left over adrenaline._

 _"All thanks to you." He replied._

 _Mason smirked, "Tomorrow, we will start sword training."_

 _Merlin gave his best fake smile. "Excellent."_

 _He inwardly groaned._

* * *

Month six, Merlin continued his training.

 _Alex walked behind the warlock._

 _"Remember what I taught you."_

 _Merlin took a deep breath and relaxed his body. He cleared his mind and zeroed in on the target. He straightened his back and placed his right foot slightly in front of his left. He held the knife vertically and gripped it with his entire hand, resting his thumb on the top edge. He pulled back his arm and held the knife eye level in front of him. He reached back and took a small step forward before he released the knife with a smooth throw._

 _The knife stuck in the tree, but not quite where Alex had made an indent to show where the target was. It was close, yet, still not perfect._

 _"Better." The Prince spoke. "You just need to work on your accuracy a bit more, but overall your good. Much better than you were when your first started._

 _Math laughed out loud, remembering the day he almost stabbed Alex._

 _"It's not funny, you almost killed me!" Alex protested._

 _"But I didn't, so now it's funny." Merlin retorted._

 _Alex crossed his arms. "Killing a Prince is treason."_

 _"I know that, you forget that I was a servant to a Prince before you."_

 _"Ah," he nodded, "Arthur Pendragon, the man that supposedly looks just like me."_

 _"He does!"_

 _"Save it for when I meet the guy."_

 _Merlin gaped._

 _"M-meet him?"_

 _"Oh yeah," Alex replied, "I want to meet the man you feel so obligated to protect with your life."_

 _"How did you-"_

 _"The first day you arrived here, you threatened to bring this kingdom to its knees if anyone as so as touched Arthur. It's quite obvious you want to protect him. I also gathered that since he despises magic just like his father, then you need to find a few new ways to protect him while he is watching if need be." Alex replied. "Which is why you are so devoted to training. Not just for you, but for him."_

 _Merlin was shocked. The Prince was spot on._

 _"You two may look alike on the outside, but on the inside, you two are totally different."_

 _"I take it that's a compliment?" Alex smirked._

 _Merlin returned it, "Indeed."_

* * *

In Month seven, things continued to go well. As well as it could be for someone who was kidnapped.

The Knights continued to visit Merlin, but recently in was more as a group. Alex, Cade, James, Matthew, and Lucas would come and talk to him at night.

" _So, how's training been?" Lucas asked._

 _Alex answered before Merlin could._

 _"Excellent! He's mastered swordplay, and is really great at using a dagger."_

 _Merlin chuckled, blushing from the small praise._

 _"Well, when you've been training nonstop for seven months by the best warrior here, then I'm sure great results are to be expected."_

 _"He'll make a true warrior out of you yet." Cade spoke._

 _Alex smiled._

 _"Actually, I'm pretty sure he's already a warrior, one of us."_

 _Merlin's cheeks reddened even more. It felt good being acknowledged for once._

 _"Well," Cade chimed in, "I'm going to go get a pastry from the kitchens, anyone want to come?"_

 _He pointedly looked at James, the sorcerer groaned._

 _"By going to the kitchens, you mean sneaking in and stealing cakes with the help of James' magic." Merlin mockingly raised an eyebrow._

 _Cade snapped his head in Merlin's direction from where he was seated in one of Merlin's wooden table chairs. He slowly got up and then ran at full speed before tackling the warlock onto his bed._

 _"Oh come on guys!" Matthew sighed, "not again."_

* * *

" _Here."_

 _Lord Mason handed Merlin a sword, and he took it gratefully._

 _"I've been teaching you the basics, so now I think that it's fair enough that I teach you how to spar."_

 _Merlin nodded, even though he wondered how fighting the Lord was fair._

 _Mason got into position and Merlin mirrored his stance._

 _The lord gave a battle cry before he full out lunged at Merlin, leaving the warlock thoroughly appalled._

 _However, thanks to Alex, Merlin was faster._

 _He sidestepped the lords oncoming lunge, leaving him baffled. Taking that as an advantage, he chose to attack._

 _Mason quickly recovered from shock and deflected his attack with a parry._

 _Merlin remised, but The lord just parried that too._

 _He growled in frustration and decided to disengage his opponent._

 _Merlin swung his sword to Mason's left side, but just as the lord was about to parry it, the warlock swung it back the other way in a semi-circle arc, managing to hit him on his right side. Sword hitting the metal plate over Mason's abdomen was enough to make the lord still in shock._

 _The warlock took the new advantage and with just a flick of his wrist, he disabled his trainer._

 _Mason raised his arms to his side and stared at Merlin with side eyes._

 _"Yield." Merlin stated, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as he pointed his sword at his opponents chest._

 _He silently thanked Alex._

 _"I yield." He responded._

 _Merlin lowered his weapon and gave the lord his best cheeky smile._

 _The other man quickly sobered up._

 _"Who taught you?"_

 _Merlin stilled, he wasn't expecting that type of question._

 _"My old master." He decided to say._

 _It was silent for awhile as Mason evaluated him._

 _"There's only one other person I have seen fight like that. One other person who had been able to beat me before. That man is Prince Alex"_

 _Merlin inwardly cursed._

 _"But it's obviously impossible for you to be trained by Alex. There's no time for you to have learned anyways." He added._

 _Mason patted his shoulder. "At least we can move on to hand to hand combat."_

 _The lord walked past Merlin and smirked to himself. He silently thanked The Prince for making his job easier._

* * *

Month eight was the last month before the games. It was so close and every new day made him antsy. Month eight was also the month that he saw Arthur again.

 _Merlin was walking with Cade to his usual meeting place with Alex. He had picked him up an hour earlier than usual, so it was still a little light outside from the setting sun._

 _He smiled when he was met by all his friends in the clearing._

 _"What are you guys doing here?"_

 _Alex smirked._

 _"Well, in honor of the upcoming games in a week, my fellow Knights and I were wondering if you would like to take a trip to any forest of your choosing."_

 _Merlin's face contorted in confusion._

 _"Forest?"_

 _"Well," Matthew began, "we decided that since you haven't had much practice for a battle, we thought it would be best to scout out some bandits and really make it a fun fight."_

 _For some reason, that spiked Merlin's interests._

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yeah." James answered, "so, what forest will it be?"_

 _Merlin didn't even need time to think._

 _"The Darkling Woods."_

 _"Ooh," Alex turned to James. "Looks like you won't be able to use magic unless you want to be captured and taken to King Uther, we're going to Camelot's lands."_

 _James glared at Alex then Merlin._

 _"Fine, it'll be nice to wield a sword again."_

 _Alex clapped his hands together. "Then it's settled. Come on Merlin."_

 _He held out a hand towards the warlock._

 _Merlin obediently took it, and Cade took his other hand. The other Knights did the same until they made a circle. James pulled out a crystal from under his tunic that was attached to a chain that hung around his neck. Alex and Lucas both put a hand on James' shoulder._

 _James started to chant._

 _The wind started to pick up around them, he squeezed Alex's hand tighter._

 _He was excited but also a little afraid, he didn't know what to expect when transporting._

 _A light started to emit from the crystal wrapped in James' hands and it wasn't long before the light became blinding. Merlin had to close his eyes._

 _He gasped when there was a sudden painful pressure on his whole body. He wanted to scream, but realized he couldn't. He wanted to breath, but soon realized it wasn't possible._

 _Soon, everything became quiet, even James' chanting stopped._

 _Merlin slowly opened his eyes, when he saw a blurry green he opened his eyes more before blinking a few times. When his vision cleared, he almost cried from the overwhelming feeling of familiarity._

 _He traveled in these woods with Arthur all the time._

 _Merlin gave a weak laugh of relief, and wasn't really surprised when his eyes started to water._

 _Home._

 _He could run, he could escape. Merlin could be reunited with his friends and have his old life back. He could do it. But he wouldn't._

 _He needed to win the games, he needed to prove himself. He needed to know that he wasn't useless without his magic. He made a promise to the Druid Aiden, and a promise to himself that he would win the games. He needed to figure out the King's motives._

 _Merlin was taken out of his thoughts from a wiz that sounded throughout the forest. An arrow planted itself in a tree by Alex's head._

 _"Looks like they found us first." Cade responded._

 _Alex quickly let go of Merlin hand and handed him his sword._

 _Merlin took it proudly._

 _The rest unsheathed their swords, and soon they heard the battle cries of about ten bandits._

 _"Damn." Merlin whispered. He didn't usually cuss, but since this was going to be his first time fighting like this with no magic, he felt he needed to express how he was feeling somehow._

 _"Remember what I taught you!" Alex yelled before he too gave a cry as he went into the battle._

 _The clinging of swords reverberated through his eardrums. Slight panic welled up inside, he wasn't prepared for this._

 _—_

 _Arthur had finally gotten out of the castle about an hour ago. His father had approved his request when he asked to go on a hunting trip alone. It had been almost eight months since Merlin left, and he still was grieving. For all he knew, he was dead._

 _Arthur brought his horse to a halt when he heard the familiar sounds of battle._

 _He got off his horse and unsheathed his sword. He walked quietly towards the sounds of sword on sword combat._

 _When he started to get closer to the tip of the hill he was on, he saw the tops of a few heads. Once he reached the top, he quickly descended down when he saw a group of bandits, fighting against a couple of Knights. He stilled halfway down the trail when he saw the dark forest green cloaks they wore around their armor. Memories resurfaced, and he realized they were from the kingdom that kidnapped Merlin. And among them was the familiar sorcerer that had told him Merlin was alive. Decision made, he descended the rest of the way down. Fight now, talk later._

 _—_

 _Merlin had just taken down a bandit when he saw a blonde Man, with a cloak the color of Camelot on his back. His heart beat sped faster when he realized it was Arthur._

 _The Prince came to a stop, and looked around, Merlin quickly hid behind a tree. A warmth feeling spread throughout his chest at the realization that he used to do this all the time._

 _With the adrenaline from battle, and worry for Arthur's safety, he felt his magic flare up at his other half. His close presence was just enough for him to push his way past his restraints until he heard the sound of something shattering. He looked down to see pieces of silver littered across the ground. His eyes burned gold and he smiled. It had been months since the last time he felt this free._

 _Merlin peaked over the tree he was behind and assessed the situation._

 _Four bandits were lying, unmoving on the ground. So now everyone was fighting one on one. Although Merlin may be extremely good at fighting now, he couldn't risk seeing Arthur. Instead, he did what he did best. Magic._

 _The bandit fighting Alex miraculously tripped over a root, and somehow fell on his sword. Lucas gave a fatal blow to his opponent right through the chest._

 _Merlin cringed._

 _Merlin watched as James' eyes flashed gold, and the bandit in front of him cried out in pain before dropping his sword. With a quick swipe across the chest, he was bleeding out on the ground._

 _A branch fell on the head of Cade's opponent. The knight jumped back, then let out a laugh that echoed through the forest._

 _All eyes were on Arthur now._

 _With graceful ease, the Prince disarmed his opponent._

 _"Go." He made a gesture with his head._

 _The bandit wasted no time in running away._

 _Arthur turned around and when his eye landed on James there was only one question he needed to ask._

 _"Where's Merlin?"_

 _The rest of the Knights and Merlin stilled._

 _How could he have known? The warlock thought to himself._

 _Alex looked around and once he spotted Merlin behind a tree, he gave a brief nod._

 _James stepped forward._

 _"Alive."_

 _Arthur brought his sword up to James' neck, he didn't flinch._

 _"I want him back, you will give me him back to me or I will end you now." He knew he really shouldn't be threatening a powerful sorcerer but he couldn't help it._

 _"Who are you?" Cade spoke up._

 _Arthur barely gave a glance in his direction._

 _"Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot."_

 _Alex turned back around and gave another look in Merlin's direction._

 _"I'm sorry." James responded._

 _Alex tilted his head in confusion._

 _"Ofergéate," James muttered, "swefn."_

 _Merlin watched as Arthur fell to the ground. He recognized those words, 'Forget' and 'sleep.' When the Prince wakes up, he won't remember this._

 _The warlock stepped out of his hiding place and walked over to his Prince. The pull he felt in his chest subsided once he was standing over him._

 _"áscildan" Merlin murmured, his eyes flashed gold as a protection spell took over Arthur's sleeping body._

 _When Merlin felt a hand on his shoulder he turned his head to the side to see his brother's sympathetic expression._

 _"We should get back soon. The sleeping spell won't last long."_

 _Merlin nodded._


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N:**_

 ** _Another Chapter! The games will begin next chapter :) hopefully this chapter didn't go by too fast. I always try to add a lot of detail in my writing but it's hard for me, idk. Anyways, you will learn some answers and receive some reveals! PLEASE REVIEW!_**

* * *

Merlin collapsed on the grass beside Alex, he laid back and stretched his arms behind his head for comfort, mirroring the man beside him.

Their breaths were quick, the sound of their rapid heart beats were reverberating in their ears. The exhilaration they felt when sparring for the last time was slowly diminishing.

The clearing they were Lying down in was dark, the only light was coming from the luminescent moon and twinkling stars. Merlin's soft skin no longer glowed a milky white, but a bronze. With all of the training he had endured outside in the scorching sun, he had become tan.

It was the night before the games. The anxiety Merlin was feeling was eating him alive. The urge to throw up his dinner was tempting but thought it wouldn't be wise to do so while Alex was around. The last thing he wanted to do was disgust the Prince.

Alex was on edge during training, Merlin knew something was bothering him from the slight shaking of his hands as he wielded his sword, and the faraway look in his eyes. He was worried.

He had to win these games, it was his top priority at the moment. He had been training nonstop for eight months, and it certainly wasn't easy. His swordsmanship could rival even Arthur Pendragon. Even though his Prince would most likely beat him, he couldn't help but think that Leon might not.

That thought made him smile.

Alex was one of the best Warriors he had met, a close second to Arthur when it came to a sword. The Prince of Arudus trained him in swordplay, taught him how to perfectly throw a dagger, and taught him hand to hand combat. Since Mason made him stronger and extended on his learnings with Alex, it had helped him achieve more faster. Having the captain of the Knights and the Victor of the previous games teaching him all they knew was a privilege. It was something that Merlin felt honored to have gone through.

Merlin learned from Mason that the games in the past had lasted from one to three days at the most. It's usually in the beginning of the games when people die the most. At least half of the competitors die in the first few minutes.

That thought alone gave Merlin chills.

Merlin was content on having the silence stay, but of course, eventually things had to be said.

"Merlin?" Alex spoke softly.

The warlock turned his head to find Alex already staring at him.

"Yes?"

Alex looked like he was contemplating for a moment till he sat up and leaned on his elbow, still lying down and facing him.

"Can you promise me something?" He asked, sounding like a wounded child.

"Oh course."

Alex bit his lip.

"When you fight in the games tomorrow, do not fight with honor."

The Prince was staring at him, his eyes pleading. When Alex noticed he wasn't going to say anything, he continued.

"Tomorrow is all about survival. The others are vicious when it comes to their life and they will not be merciful on you. If you drop your sword they will not wait on you to reclaim your weapon before proceeding. They will kill you. Especially if you back is to them. Do not fight with honor. Promise me."

Merlin thought about what it must have took for the Prince to say that. He knew that royalty was taught since birth to fight with honor and nothing else. Fighting with honor is what helped Knights to sleep at night after they had killed. It helped them cope with the fact that they had taken someone's life. It made them think that they had won a fair fight, and it made them think that they didn't kill an unarmed man. But to fight without honor, to just kill when your opponent had no chance to defend themselves left the person broken. Left them thinking they were some cold blooded murderer. The guilt would haunt them for months, whenever they closed their eyes, whenever they dreamed. Sometimes people moved on, but most of the time, they are haunted by it for the rest of their lives, or until they reach an old enough age where they soon start to forget.

But Merlin trusted Alex's judgement, and deep down he knew the young man was right. Was it selfish to want to live, to win?

Was it cruel to kill in a game when it's forced? When if you don't, then you will surely die?

"Merlin..."

"I promise." He quickly replied.

Alex stared at him a little longer until he nodded, laying back down to stare up at the night sky.

What the Prince said next was barely audible, but Merlin heard it nonetheless.

"I don't want to lose you."

Both heard the sound of leaves rustling, causing them both to quickly sit up. Before anything else could happen, Merlin turned his head to Alex.

"You won't."

"Merlin!"

At the sound of his name, he snapped his head back around and grinned.

"Cade." The dirty blonde knight came out of the trees, followed by the rest of his friends.

Alex abruptly stood up, quickly brushing the dirt off his bum.

"Why are they here?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and eventually stood up, giving Alex a glare for his slight rudeness.

"I asked Cade to bring them with him when he picks me up."

Alex furrowed his brows.

"Why?"

Merlin glanced at the group before answering Alex.

"Because there's something I need to tell you guys."

He took a few steps back until everyone was in his line of view before proceeding.

Cade gave him a brief nod and a small smile for encouragement.

Merlin returned it.

"James."

At the mention of his name, the sorcerer perked up.

"Yes?"

Merlin's heart beat sped up, it was now or never.

"Cade mentioned someone to me by the name of Balinor."

James tensed, his jaw clenched.

"He did?"

Merlin nodded.

"Yes, I met him almost a year ago."

James' eyes widened.

"You met my father?"

"No, James." Merlin walked over to the stunned sorcerer, closing the distance between them. He put a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "I met our father."

James drew in a quick breath, Merlin heard the others gasp.

"O-our father?"

Merlin gave a laugh of relief.

"Your my older brother."

James clamped a hand over his mouth as his breathing quickened. His eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"I have a brother." He whispered.

Merlin was about to reply but was silenced by the sudden embrace he was pulled into.

He heard James laugh into the crook of his neck.

"I knew the moment I saw you that I felt a connection," he admitted, "it was as if we were more than kin."

Merlin slowly wrapped his arms around his half brother.

"I felt it too."

"Wait."

James and Merlin abruptly pulled away from each other before facing the Prince.

"He is really your brother?"

Merlin smiled.

"Half brother, different mothers, same father."

"But still," James spoke up, "we are brothers."

It was silent for a moment before James piped up.

"You said you met our father... Where is he?"

Merlin stilled. This was the part he knew he was going to hate. He knew that good was always followed by bad. This was the bad.

How was he supposed to tell his brother that their father had died?

James must have noticed the dreadful expression on his face, because he now understood what was unsaid.

"Oh."

Merlin's heart pained for his brother.

"James, I'm so sorry."

He waved a hand.

"It's unfortunate how I never was able to get the opportunity to meet him. But, I have you now, that's all that matters."

Merlin gave him a sad smile.

"Do you trust me?"

James looked taken aback for a moment before he sobered up and stared oddly at the warlock.

"Yes, why?"

Merlin held out his wrists.

"I need you to disable these magic suppressing bracelets."

"Merlin..."

"Please." He pleaded, "I want to show you something."

James sighed.

"Alright."

The warlock beamed before resting his wrists in both of James' hands.

"ríce béon áyppan."

Merlin gasped as his magic once again started flowing freely in his veins.

"Thank- you." He stammered.

Once he stopped shaking, the warlock started walking out of the clearing, "follow me."

He smiled to himself when he heard footfalls behind him.

Merlin expanded his magic around the area, searching for a big enough clearing.

Eventually he found one, not too far ahead.

He knew someone was bound to become restless.

"Where are we going?" Lucas grumbled.

"Almost there!" Merlin called back.

He picked up his pace and sprinted a few more yards until he reached the huge clearing.

Once the others appeared behind him, he began to walk to the middle of the field, and raised his head to the skies.

"Whatever you want to show us, hurry up, it's getting cold out." Cade whined.

Merlin chuckled before he roared into the sky.

"O drakon e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!"

Once he was finished he turned around to see the astonished faces of his friends.

"What. was. that." Cade gaped.

He grinned.

"That my friends, was a call."

Alex stepped forward.

"What kind of call?"

"You will see." He responded. He felt a strange tingly feeling as the dragon got closer. He hadn't seen him since he attacked Camelot. He gulped.

A shadow soon succumbed the clearing, blocking out the moon.

The flap of his wings caused a draft, but it soon died down once he landed.

The dragon's wise, golden eyes zeroed in on Merlin.

"Young Warlock, I'm surprised you called to me."

"Well, I figured it was important."

The dragon's eyes moved from the warlock to the sorcerer.

"I see you have found your half brother."

Merlin gasped.

"You knew!"

"Of course I knew, I felt his connection from the moment he was born."

Everyone slowly snapped out of their daze.

"Wait." All eyes turned to James. "Merlin's a dragon lord?"

"Indeed." Kilgharrah answered.

"You know, that reminds me. If James is the oldest, why did I obtain the dragon lord abilities?"

It took a while for the dragon to respond.

"If you both were born by the same parents, then the oldest would receive his father's abilities when he died. But you both were born by different mothers. When Balinor died, his abilities passed to you Merlin, because you are a purebred. James is a half-bred."

Merlin thought for a moment.

"Purebred?"

Kilgharrah sighed.

"As you are aware, the dragon lord ability can only be passed down from father son."

Merlin nodded.

"Your mother has the blood of a dragon lord too."

"What?"

"Your grandfather was a dragon lord, but since he gave birth to a girl, his abilities never passed down to her when he died soon after her birth, but the dragon lord blood still runs through her veins. That's why when they both had you, you were a purebred. It does not matter that James is older, he couldn't obtain them because you were pure."

Merlin was left flabbergasted.

"My mother never had magic."

"No, not all have the gift." The dragon turned his head up and stared down at Alex.

"Prince Alexander."

"How do you know who he is?" Merlin asked.

"I used to be close to his father." Kilgharrah spoke, not taking his eyes off Edward's son.

"What?" Merlin was surprised. "When?"

"One hundred and eighteen years ago."

Alex looked horrified.

"Pardon me?"

"Your father is a dangerous man, Alexander, he is no better than Uther."

"Watch what you say." He growled.

"Merlin, I know why you are here, it makes sense since I lost your connection for eight months, but when I somehow felt a trace of you at random times, I knew you were here. These games are for your fathers personal gain, Alexander. Not all for the money that everyone assumes, but because he is cursed."

Alex's heart was racing.

"Cursed?"

Kilgharrah bowed his head.

"A witch was angry at Edward's father for building an area in her sacred grounds where she paid tribute to her blood God. She claimed he demanded male ten sorcerers every five years in a blood sacrifice. She warned his father not to build his arena there but he didn't listen. She cursed his son with an aging spell. One which made him grow an age older every hour unless ten male sorcerers were sacrificed in the arena. By the time his father had found and killed ten, his son was the age of fifty."

"Oh my god." Alex muttered.

"He left right away and used me to take him to other kingdoms. He traveled the lands until he chose the best time to come back for his reign. He met a man named Balinor decades later, and they traveled back together here, where Edward was crowned King, and Balinor was announced his advisor. As he was gone, his father had developed the games, a simple way to kill off ten male sorcerers without anyone's suspicions. A cruel game, but it saved his son's life. That is why you have the sorcerer games."

All six men were left shocked.

"Why are there twelve sorcerers if the blood God demands ten?" Matthew asked.

Merlin spoke up.

"Incase something goes wrong, and he needs a victor doesn't he? Then he needs a spare person in case maybe one escapes."

"Don't be fooled." The dragon spoke. "There is no blood God."

"What?"

"The witch was a delirious high priestess, she had obviously used enough dark magic in her time to have become crazed with blood and death."

It was silent for awhile until Alex spoke up.

"Is there a way for my father to not need blood sacrifices every five years to live?"

"Yes."

"Well..." Merlin could tell Alex was getting irritated. "What is it?"

"To break the curse, there must be a sacrifice of the man with the purest magic of all. Magic itself. A true warlock."

James' eyes widened.

"Emrys."

Alex scoffed.

"But he isn't real!"

"Emrys, is very real Alexander."

The Prince scowled once again for the use of his full name.

"Then we need to find him."

If it was possible for dragons to grin, then Kilgharrah was definitely doing it.

"Young Prince, even if you did find Emrys, I'm sure you'd rather die yourself then let him be sacrificed for your father."

Alex tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

Kilgharrah looked expectantly at Merlin.

He inwardly cursed the dragon.

"I'm Emrys." He said, turning around. "I am the warlock of legends."

James was in awe.

"My brother is the almighty Emrys... wow."

"No, no no no." Alex shook his head. "This can't be."

"Merlin is not meant to die in that Arena. That is all I can say for now." He turned to Merlin. "Young warlock, do not forget about your destiny, you must return to Arthur as soon as you can. I wish you luck for tomorrow."

With that said, Kilgharrah took off.

Nobody dared to speak for awhile. All deep in their own thoughts.

"The dragon is right." Alex said.

"What?" Everyone spoke in unison.

"I will refuse to let you die Merlin, or Emrys."

"It's Merlin."

"Right." Alex sighed. "It kills me to say it, but I guess you were right all along Cade, my father is a tyrant, who cares nothing for his people, and little for me."

Cade looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry."

Alex ignored him.

"Merlin, get some rest.

You have a game to win."

* * *

Later that night as Merlin lay sleeping, someone walked into his chambers.

The man slowly walked up to the warlock and sat down at the edge of his bed.

"I cannot lose you, brother." James whispered. "Now that I have you in my life, I promise to protect you. This is the only way."


	16. Chapter 16: The Sorceror Games Part 1

_**A/N:**_

 ** _The moment you have all been waiting for... The Sorceror Games!_**

 ** _I have read one of the most recent comments and I'd like to say that I'm sorry if my chapters seem rushed to any of you. I try to put as much detail in as possible but I struggle with it. I know how much stories that seem rushed ruin the experience for the reader and I just wanted to apologize :/ I will try harder next time. Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW! and happy Sorceror Games! Enjoy. (P.S. Don't get too pissed at me for what happens in this chapter.)_**

* * *

After eating a big breakfast and getting dressed into his normal black attire, his manservant, Eli, was escorting him to the arena.

Over the course of a few months, he had finally gotten past some propriety with Eli.

"Nervous?" His servant asked, but it seemed as if he was the nervous one.

Probably because he was speaking to him.

That one word really did describe what Merlin was feeling. It was a fight to the death match he was heading into, one where there will be only one Victor, of course he was nervous.

"Very."

They soon reached the door that led out of the underground part of the castle.

Merlin was greeted by the familiar heat that had accompanied him last time he went out this door.

Eli and him trudged through the sand. The tiny shards fell into his black boots every time he walked and the feeling of them grinding against his foot aggravated him. He disliked the feeling.

Around the arena, green tents were set up, the color of Arudus.

He continued to follow Eli, navigating their way through various tents until they reached one that did not stand out from the others. How he knew which was his tent was beyond him.

The ever proper servant stepped to the side and pulled the flap back. Merlin gratefully nodded and said a quick 'thanks' before entering. The last person he expected to be there was standing right next to his trainer.

"Alex?"

When he realized that he had called the crowned Prince by his name in front of the Lord he quickly bowed.

"Prince A-."

"Save it, Merlin."

Mason's deep voice made him quickly stand up straight again.

"What?"

He looked over at Alex to see the Prince trying hard to hold back a smirk, the amusement in his eyes was evident.

"Lord Mason knows."

If he could be any more nervous than he was before, then he certainly felt so now. His heart sped up as his breathing quickened.

"Knows what?" He croaked. Afraid of the answer he was going to receive.

"I know Alex has been training you."

He suddenly felt light headed, this couldn't be good. Mason was going to report it, tell King Edward, and then Alex and him both will get punished for this.

"I-" The excuse he was going to make was interrupted by Alex.

"It was both of our idea for me to train you."

Merlin inwardly sighed in relief, but his eyes grew wide on the outside.

"What?"

"Well," Mason began, "Alex first came to me and asked for my permission, and I was only too eager to agree. Believe it or not, I don't want to see my competitor die in the arena, so I was willing to do whatever it took to get the training you needed in by the time the eight months ended. It worked obviously."

Alex stepped forward.

"That's why he spent so much time making you go through strength training while I taught you combat training."

All Merlin could think about was how brilliant it worked.

Merlin smiled.

"Well, are you two here to see me off?"

Both men glanced at each other before Mason nodded.

Alex turned back around and walked forth toward Merlin.

"There's something I want to do first."

Lord Mason came close too but he stayed off to the side.

"You guys can come in." Alex spoke.

Merlin's eyes moved over to the entrance of the tent when it sudden flew open.

The warlock beamed.

"What is going on?"

James, Matthew, Lucas, and Cade all came in with bright faces. Their smiles made Merlin's grow wider. They all stood off to the side, circling the two.

James spoke first.

"We figured that we should give you something special before you go off into these games, something to reward you for your hard work and determination."

Merlin looked up at Alex.

"Do you trust me?" The Prince asked.

He didn't need to think before answering.

"Yes."

Alex gave him a small smile before he stoned his face.

"Kneel."

Merlin was confused, but did as he was told.

"Bow you head."

He obeyed.

The next thing he heard was the sound of a sword being unsheathed. He tensed up, but quickly remembered that he gave Alex his trust. He relaxed.

He felt the blade tap his left shoulder, then his right.

"Arise, Sir Merlin."

He gasped, snapping his head up and staring into the proud eyes of Alex.

He was being knighted.

On shaky legs, Merlin rose.

"Merlin of Ealdor, do you swear upon the gods to uphold the morals and laws of Arudus?"

He was too caught up in the moment to say anything else but, "I do."

"Do you swear to serve me as your Prince, to divide your loyalty between me and Arthur Pendragon, do you swear to serve me in my time of need."

Merlin was loyal to Arthur, but that didn't mean he couldn't be loyal to two Prince's.

"I swear."

Alex smiled.

"Then by the power invested in me, I, Prince Alexander of Arudus, knight you, Merlin Emrys, as one of my royal subjects."

Merlkn was still shocked. The last thing he would have expected was this. He knew he should feel guilty for being knighted in someone else's kingdom and not Camelot but he was not nobility there and definitely not a citizen. This could end up working for his advantage.

"You are one of us."

"Wooh!" Cade cheered as he pumped his first in the air.

James walked toward and put a comforting hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"Congratulations, brother."

He couldn't believe this. He was a knight. He had never thought it suited him before but now that he knew how to wield a sword, he felt it formfitting.

"Merlin," Alex began, "Your father was nobility here, so it was only wise to give you a last name, one that our comrades agreed on."

 _Our_

"Although, this information will only stay between us, unless you want to change that when I become king."

Merlin nodded.

"We will see." He looked around and observed all of the happy faces. "I'd like to thank you Alex, all of you really, for everything. Sire, although I am loyal to Arthur, I also will pledge my loyalty to you. You have proved yourself to be the future King your people expect you to be. One with honor, respect, and the ability to rule fairly. I will fight for you when you need me, you deserve it."

He looked everyone in the eyes.

"I will miss all of you when I leave this kingdom, I will visit again one day, do not worry."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Merlin."

He looked at Lord Mason.

"I am proud of you."

"As am I." Cade piped up.

"And I." Lucas spoke.

Matthew bowed his head. "And I."

"I." James said.

"And I." The Prince uttered.

"You know what this means." Cade grinned.

"Wh-"

"Group hug!" He shrieked.

Cade grabbed Lucas' arm and dragged him over to Alex, then did the same with Matthew and Mason.

They all stood awkwardly in close proximity.

Cade sighed, rolling his eyes.

He wrapped his arms around those closest to him and shoved them together.

James wrapped his arm around Merlin and pulled him in, Merlin pulled in Alex, and the rest follows along.

"Get off of me." Mason growled.

Everyone stepped back quickly, not wanting to face the Lord's wrath.

Alex cleared his throat.

"Let's promise to never speak of this."

"Agreed." Everyone said in Unison, but ultimately causing everyone to break out in fits of laughter.

The all stopped abruptly when a horn sounded.

The moment of happiness was over.

"Merlin." Alex spoke urgently. "Remember the promise you made me."

He nodded.

"Remember everything I taught you Merlin, beware of the water." Mason warned.

"I will."

James was fidgeting, avoiding Merlin's gaze.

"James..."

"Good luck Merlin."

He embraced his brother one more time.

Mason put a hand on his back. "We have to go."

The warlock broke the embrace and gave everyone a smile.

"Goodbye guys."

A few more goodbyes, smiles, and hugs were exchanged before Merlin left with his Trainer.

Right as he left the tent and stepped out into the sun, loud chants filled his ears, he didn't realize that the tent he was in was under a silencing spell.

The arena stands were full of people.

Some were shooting up fire, or spelling competitors names out in flames.

Mason and him walked along the outer wall. Merlin was glad for the silence. He didn't think he would be able to talk with all of the anxiety he was feeling. He was beyond nervous. His heart pounded in his chest, and the butterflies he felt in his stomach were enormous.

They reached the entrance to the arena a few minutes later.

The screaming grew louder, Merlin fought the urge to block out the noise with his hands.

Mason grabbed his wrist, making the warlock jump back a bit.

"Relax."

They walked through the archway, and that was when Mason brought his arm up and raised it above his head.

The crowd went wild, and the word that they were chanting was indistinguishable, but once the whole crowd began chanting in unison, the warlock finally could hear it.

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin, Merlin!"

They walked across the vast, sandy arena.

He took his time to observe his surroundings and noticed there were twelve platform like circles in the sand. Evenly placed around the arena. In the middle, was a huge circular rack. Distributed all around it were axes, swords, daggers, lances, and maces.

He gulped.

The massive arena was three times the size of Camelot's. Merlin had no clue how these games were going to work.

Lord Mason lowered Merlin's arm once they reached the other competitors. The evil glints in their eyes told him how much they hated him. Apparently he was the only one who had the whole crowd chant his name.

His eyes landed on a smirking Merek. He tried to take a step back, but Mason put a hand to the small of his back and pushed him onward to the end of the line.

That was the first time he saw Merek since the assault.

He fought hard not to look in the guys direction, he could defiantly feel his eyes boring into him.

Merlin flinched when the King's voice suddenly boomed over the arena. Obviously enhanced by magic.

He moved his attention to the Royal box and saw Alex, standing along next to his father with James on the other side.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, sorcerers and sorceresses, we are all gathered here today in honor of the twenty seventh Sorcerer Games."

The crowd roared.

"Twelve competitors will compete today. A fight to the death match where only one will remain victorious."

The people screamed once more.

The king waited for the commotion to die down before proceeding.

"Competitors, step forward when your name is called..."

"Zylen," The guy Merlin saw before on the day of his evaluation stepped forward.

"Merek," a chill ran up Merlin's spine at the name mentioned.

"Edmund. Gavin. Rowan. Adonis."

"Kaleb," Merlin recognized that guy from his first day when he wanted room number seven, but thanks to Alex, he backed off.

"Daren."

"Elton," The blonde that had helped Merek beat him his second week here stepped forward. Merlin barely suppressed a growl.

"Merlin," he was startled when he heard his name but quickly stepped forward. The crowd roared like they did every time someone new came forward.

"Gerald."

"And last, but certainly not least, Joseph."

At this point, those who were sitting, now stood up to applaud them all as a whole. How these people enjoyed watching people kill each other, Merlin will never know. He did know that it was sickening.

"These are the competitors, and only one of those twelve lucky young men will come back as our twenty seventh Victor! Happy Sorcerer Games! Let the games begin!"

While the audience went crazy, Mason came back over to the warlock.

"It's time to get you to your platform."

Merlin nodded, and followed Mason obediently.

As he was walking he looked up at the Royal box to see Alex possibly staring down at him. He was so far away that he couldn't tell what the guy was looking at, but his head faced his way the whole time he walked, so it had to mean something.

"Here we are, number seven."

Merlin stopped abruptly and looked down at the metal circle with the number seven engraved in it. Merlin took a deep breath and stood up on it.

Merlin gasped once he felt his magic return to him.

Mason smiled.

"You will get your magic in the beginning, but soon James will send out a spell to suppress your magic once again."

"Okay." He breathed.

"I have faith in you, Emrys." He spoke before walking off, leaving a bewildered Merlin in his wake.

Perhaps Alex told him...

But somehow, Merlin had a feeling he knew all along.

"20, 19..."

Merlin looked around to see all of the other competitors on their own platforms. Some were getting in a running position while others seemed to be about to use their magic. The audience started to countdown along with their king.

"14, 13, 12..."

Merlin was scared, high-strung, and just utterly nervous. The words that Mason had told him once again rang threw his head.

 _'The first few minutes will be a blood bath.'_

Merlin gulped before getting into a running position.

"5," Merlin brought his magic up to the surface.

"4," He thought about his old friends in Camelot and the new one in Arudus. Would he ever seen them again?

"3," He bent his legs more, getting ready to make a run for the rack of weapons.

"2," He inwardly cursed.

"1!"

One moment Merlin was on the platform, and the next he was flying backwards through the air by some magical force. It felt as if a horse had rammed into him head on.

He landed on the ground and continued to roll until he hit the edge of the arena wall.

He groaned loudly, bringing his hands up slowly to clutch his head. The pounding was excruciating, and his breathing was ragged. Every time he exhaled a sharp pain shot through his chest. He turned weary eyes in the direction he had just come from, only to see a blurry figure in navy blue make his way towards him. Judging by the way he was walking, he certainly didn't lack confidence.

Merlin outstretched his hand towards the rack of weapons in the middle of the arena. He focused his magic on a sword, willing it to come to him. The blade shook, making the metal rattle as it tried to free itself. One more inch up and then the sword was free, moving through the air towards Merlin's hand.

Just as it was only a few yards away, the blade sudden fell, skidding across the sand towards the warlock, managing to cause grains of sand to fly up into Merlin's eyes.

"Ah!" Merlin buried the palms of his hands in his eyes, digging them in, trying to clear his sensitive eyes from the tiny shards of sand.

At some time, as the sword flew towards him, his magic shied away and hid itself once again. Just as Mason had said, the bracelets were reactivated.

He blindly felt around for the sword. When his hand touched metal, he quickly grasped it but yelped when it was the blade, not the hilt. The warlock opened his protesting eyes to see that the sorcerer was getting closer. He ignored the bleeding cut on his palm and grabbed the correct end of the sword.

Merlin rolled onto his stomach and carefully lifted his upper body up on shaky arms. He bent his leg and dragged it up, he got into a kneeling position and pushed off his leg, he dug the sword in the sand and used it as leverage. He let out a grunt, then staggered back around to face his opponent.

As the guy got closer and Merlin's vision began to clear, he noticed it was one of the competitors he had never seen before, but remembered his name from earlier, Gavin.

The sorcerer must have felt the effects of the magic suppressing bracelets taking place since his facial features didn't resemble a state of confidence anymore, but one of slight fear.

"Come on Merlin," He held up his hands in surrender, "your not really going to kill an unarmed man are you?"

"You," Merlin took a deep breath, "you were going to kill me earlier, and I wasn't armed."

"Ah, but you see, you had your magic."

Merlin inwardly cursed his moment of idiocy.

He thought about Alex's words the night before.

 _'Do not fight with honor.'_

Could he really do it? Kill this man because he promised the Prince that he would not fight with honor? Did he have the heart to do it? What would his mother say if he saw him do this? What would Arthur say?

He clutched the sword between his hands as he held it out in front of him. When he took his eyes of the man in front of him and looked over at the weapons rack, he noticed that the once pure white sandy ground was now a bright Crimson read.

He pushed down the feeling of guilt and turned his attention back to the man in front of him, who had somehow escaped his awareness and had come closer.

But Before Merlin could make up his mind about whether or not he should kill the man, Gavin's face contorted into one of agonizing pain. His mouth was open in a silent scream.

The sorcerer suddenly fell forward onto the ground, causing Merlin to flinch.

There, embedded in the back of his head, was a silver dagger.

Merlin's eyes grew wide. He raised his sword on instinct and looked up to see where the knife could have come from. His eyes caught sight of a distant figure in red, stalking towards him.

He may look in control on the outside but in the inside he was in full out panic. This man with exceptional accuracy just threw a dagger and managed to kill a guy easily. If this sorcerer wasn't as bad as it gets, Merlin was almost afraid to see worse.

"Stay back!" Merlin yelled, swinging his sword to show he wasn't playing around.

The guy laughed.

"I just saved your life and this is how you repay me?"

Merlin scoffed.

"I wasn't in any danger."

He rolled his eyes, "Oh please, you were shaking like a loon! Don't tell me you weren't a little bit afraid."

Merlin just glared.

The man stepped closer, and once Merlin noticed that the man didn't have any more weapons on him. (None that he could see.) he lowered his weapon.

The man grinned and held of his hand.

"Adonis."

Merlin eyed the hand suspiciously before he hesitantly reached out and shook it.

"Merlin."

The man titled his head in amusement.

"I know who your are _Mer_ lin, everyone does." he said in a very Arthur-like manner.

Merlin raised his eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Oh, trust me, it's not a good thing."

The warlock frowned.

"Allies?" Adonis offered.

Merlin laughed incredulously.

"You want to be my ally?"

The man crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive manner.

"I asked you didn't I?"

Merlin thought it over for a moment. It would be good to have extra help for a change.

Merlin nodded in agreement.

"Allies."


	17. Chapter 17: The Sorcerer Games Part 2

_**A/N:**_

 ** _sorry for taking so long in posting, I had to edit it and add more things, anyways, hope you enjoy! And I'd like to read what you think will end up happening in the games, who do you believe will win? REVIEW!_**

* * *

The ground shook as a deep rumble sounded through the sky.

Adonis and Merlin both looked up, using a hand to shield the sun out of their eyes. But soon there would be no need, for a vast amount of dark storm clouds were settling in the sky. When Merlin looked around he noticed that the rain clouds were only covering the arena, outside of the walls the sky was still a beautiful blue.

The sun was finally becoming fully covered as the last of the clouds shifted into place. Merlin brought his hand down and exchanged an odd look with Adonis.

"If fighting to the death in a deadly storm is what these people want, then they are all surely mad."

Merlin chuckled but once he realized what he was doing, he quickly clamped his mouth shut, this was not the time to be joking.

"I couldn't agree more."

Both men lost their footing when the ground suddenly started to shake.

The warlock held his hands out to the sides to maintain his Balance. Before, he probably would have fall flat on his face, but since he had gone through months of training, he was prepared for this.

He looked towards the ground and was surprised to see the sand changing color. It went from white, to tan, gradually turning into a light brown, and then finally settling on dark.

It was dirt, and when Merlin finally got a clue on what was going on, his suspicions were confirmed when grass began to emerge from the soil, it stopped growing when it reached half the height of Merlin's boot. They were changing the scenery.

He looked up and was met with green grass everywhere, covering the entire arena field. He caught sight of more people, a great distance away.

 _1, 2, 3..._

He counted how many were left, mouthing each number as he went along.

"Six."

Adonis turned to him with a look of confusion.

"What?"

"There are six competitors left, counting us, there's eight."

Adonis turned around and counted just as Merlin did.

When he finished, he had a grim expression on his face. "Your right."

There was a shout coming from down the field. When Merlin looked towards the commotion he noticed there were three competitors, obviously allied together, but the worst part was that they were pointing at them.

"A-Adonis." He stammered, tapping the other man's arm with the back of his hand.

Slightly annoyed with the other's excessive tapping, Adonis rounded angrily on Merlin. "What is it?"

Merlin raised a hand and pointed it towards the three men, who were now running towards them. Two were armed with swords and one had an axe.

Adonis followed his arm and widened his eyes in alarm at the new enemies, his previous agitation quickly diminished. He grabbed the outstretched arm in front of him and pulled on it as he started to make a run for it.

Merlin stumbled at first but regained his footing soon enough. They both started to run along the inner wall.

The pair didn't get very few before they both tumbled to the ground in a heap of limbs.

Their unfortunate mishap wasn't caused by Merlin's clumsiness, but by the ground shaking even more violently than before. The warlock didn't even try an attempt to stand, let alone get to his knees. He knew if he tried, it would just end in failure. Instead, he rolled over and stayed, lying down on his stomach, clutching the ground and waiting for the shaking to stop.

There was an earsplitting cracking noise coming from somewhere around the warlock, but Merlin couldn't think much of it since his whole body was being severely jerked from side to side. He grasped onto the grass, gritted his teeth, and kept his eyes shut, the rapid movements of the ground was causing Merlin to develop a splitting headache, nausea was something he definitely was feeling too. He couldn't help but wonder how Adonis was fairing.

There were more loud noises now, other than the cracking he heard earlier. It sounded as if the ground was splitting

Something started to move from under his upper body, poking and prodding at his stomach. Whatever it is was beginning to grow out of the ground, causing Merlin's body to rise up from the ground with it. He quickly began to push himself off of whatever it was under him. His hands pushed against sticks and leaves, puncturing his extremities as he struggled to get off. The slight relief he felt in that split second of falling through the air was quickly adverted to panic when he landed back onto the ground with a thump, crying out in pain as he landed on his side.

"Mer-lin!" He heard Adonis shout, he too was struggling against the quake.

"I-I'm f-ine." He replied, but the shaking made his words come out broken.

"O-open y-your eye-s."

Merlin relaxed his face, releasing the tension out of his body and opened his eyes. It was hard to see when his vision was constantly becoming blurry from all the rapid movements, but it wasn't hard to see what was happening.

What was once a field of grass, was now a forest. There were bushes, trees, vines, rocks, and mud. He attempted to turn his head to the right, and saw a huge tree where he once was lying. So that was what was growing from under him.

To Merlin's relief, the arena stopped shaking. He stayed where he was for a moment, not daring to move until he new for sure another earth quake would not come. He tried to calm his breathing before looking up to find Adonis.

"Merlin!"

The warlock quickly scrambled to his feet at the sound of Adonis' distressed voice.

"Adonis?" He turned a full circle but still, no sign of his ally.

"Up here."

This time Merlin followed the voice, looking up into the trees until he spotted the familiar red tunic.

"Bloody he-"

"Stop wasting time and get me down from here!" The Sorcerer shrieked.

Just as Merlin was about to respond, he felt the familiar feeling of his magic returning to him again.

He sighed in relief.

"Oh." He heard Adonis call down. "Never mind, I've got this."

He abruptly snapped his gaze up when he heard a yell.

"Ah!"

Merlin stretched out his hand, ready to slow down time or use a spell if need be. But as Adonis neared the ground, his body slowed in the air until he softly landed on his feet.

A cheeky grin was sent in his direction.

"All good."

Merlin sneered.

"You didn't think of getting off the tree before it started to grow?"

Adonis exasperatedly threw his hands in the air.

"It grew fast!"

Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't matter, your okay, I'm okay, now we need to go."

The warlock bent down to pick up his sword. Realizing that he hadn't seen Adonis with anything but that one knife earlier, he looked up and asked,

"Do you have a weapon?"

Adonis grinned. He reached behind his back and brought forth two throwing knives.

"Of course."

Merlin didn't hear Adonis' response because the pain that shot through his left palm drew his attention.

He looked at his hand, the one he had cut on his sword earlier and noticed that the cut had expanded. Probably from pushing the branches trying to get off of the tree.

He winced when the cut stung again.

Merlin flinched when a hand suddenly shot into his vision and grabbed his wrist. He hadn't realized Adonis walked over.

"I can heal it if you want."

Merlin didn't even have to think twice before he nodded.

"Yeah, I think it would be best if you did."

There's no way he could fight with a hand injured like that. If he cleaned it in a river then the water might be dirty and infect it. Magic was his best option.

Adonis responded with a nod of his own.

He switched hands, cupping Merlin's left with his right. He raised his other hand and muttered a spell.

"hælan."

The spell worked immediately. The cut started to stitch itself back together, and soon enough, only a white scar remained.

Merlin took his hand away and absentmindedly rubbed his thumb against the now healed wound.

"Thanks." He muttered. "Are you a healer?"

The sorcerer just patted him on the back before walking away.

"Come on _Mer_ lin,we don't have all day."

Merlin sighed, slightly wondering why his ally didn't answer the simply question, but pushed it to the back of his mind for later. They had more important things to worry about. He soon trudged on after him.

He tried to keep bad thoughts out of his mind, 'what if' scenarios that usually ended with 'what is going to happen if we are the last two left?'

He shook his head and continued to follow Adonis through the forest.

* * *

"Son, are you alright?" King Edward put a reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder.

The Prince jumped.

"Fine!" He didn't mean for his voice to come out so strong but he couldn't help it, now that he knew who his father really was, his respect for him had all but vanished. When he realized his fa-, King, might get angry for raising his voice, he quickly said in a more softer tone, "I'm fine."

To his surprise, Edward chuckled.

"Well, you sure don't look fine. Your fidgeting, are you nervous?"

Nervous was an understatement compared to what the Prince was feeling. He was sitting next to a man who didn't actually love him, Merlin is out there in the Games, and his father is a one hundred and something year old man. (He forgot the exact age.) But the thing that disturbed Alex the most, was the fact that if Merlin died, his father might live forever, who knows what would happen if Emrys' sacrifice broke the curse.

Alex dug his nails in the arm rests of his chair.

"I said, I'm fine." He gritted out, continuing to watch one of the competitors heal Merlin's hand. The trees in the arena were transparent, faded to those not in the arena so that they could watch easily. It was all thanks to the four dozen sorcerers who controlled the Games.

He took a side glance at James to see how he was holding up. Exactly as he'd thought, the sorcerer was just as nervous as he was. The sorcerer was leaning forward in his seat, very undignified, with his elbows on his knees and chin resting in his hands, as one of his legs shook repeatedly up and down. Alex certainly was not judging him, after all, it was his brother that was out there, and he might not make it out of there alive.

* * *

A drop of rain fell on top of Merlin's nose. As he used his sleeve to wipe it off, more continued to fall on his body. He looked up at the dark grey clouds and saw rain drops descending from the sky.

A sudden lighting bolt pierced through the sky, followed by a crack of thunder, causing both magic users to flinch.

The rain picked up after that. What was once a slight drizzle, was now a maddening downpour.

The water that was collected on his eyelashes constantly entered his eyes, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut for long periods of a time, continuously blinking them. His vision was blurred.

Merlin was abruptly pulled to the side and pinned to the back of a tree. He was about to protest when the hand of none other than Adonis clamped over his mouth.

"Shh." He whispered. Merlin locked eyes with him and read right through his mask, fear and worry. There was a sorcerer near.

He carefully took his hand off the warlock's mouth. The new cover of a tree blocked out most of the rain. Merlin carefully looked over from behind the tree to see exactly what must have caught his partners attention. A light brown haired sorcerer in a bright blue was making his way through a path in the forest, Merlin recognized him immediately as Kaleb.

The sorcerer halted in his path, causing Merlin tensed. The man's brow furrowed before he turned his head in their direction. Merlin gasped, and brought his head back behind the tree, only to be met with an angry Adonis.

The sorcerer had already no doubt sensed his magic, so it was either be a coward and run, or come out and fight.

Decision made, Merlin sheepishly shrugged before stepping out from behind the tree, sword clutched tight in one hand. Where this new act of bravery came from, he didn't know.

Kaleb smirked.

"Well, well, well, If it isn't the guy who's friends with Prince Charming."

Merlin ignored the taunt. Stopping a good distance away from the other man.

"Leave, and I will spare you."

Kaleb laughed.

"S-spare me?" He gave him an incredulous look. "Listen kid, if you haven't noticed, the whole point of this game is to kill, not spare every person's life you come across of. Sorry, but, I refuse to leave."

He extended his arm out towards the warlock.

"Ástríce!"

Merlin barely waved a hand before the fire ball that was sent in his direction disintegrated. The act of not uttering a word didn't go unnoticed by his opponent.

"You sure you don't want to take me up on my offer?"

Kaleb hesitated a moment, but giving up now would make him seem weak. With a newfound determination, he yelled out another spell.

But just before he finished his words, he felt the shift in his magic, something changed. And when he finished the spell and nothing happened, he knew it was once again suppressed. He would have to resort to his last method.

Merlin held up his sword this time, ready to defend himself if need be, but before he could even think, Kaleb had taken out a dagger and thrown it at Merlin.

The warlock cried out in pain as the knife pierced through flesh and imbedded itself into his shoulder.

At seeing what happened, Adonis stepped out from behind the safety of the tree and threw one of his two daggers, managing to hit Kaleb on the left side of his chest. The sorcerer's eyes widened, he looked down and brought his hand up to the hilt but before he could touch it, he collapsed to his knees and then slowly fell to the ground.

It wasn't until that moment that Merlin realized the rain had died down to a drizzle once more. He was more successful than Kaleb when he brought his hand up to the hilt of the dagger and pulled it out, too numb with shock to cry out. The disturbing sound of a knife being torn out of his flesh caught his partners attention who immediately whirled around. His eyes focused intensely on Merlin.

"We need to-"

Adonis suddenly looked up, his face contorting in what Merlin could only read as shock and fear. The sorcerer staggered backwards.

"What?" He croaked, turning around to see what had caught the other man's attention. If he could, he would've gasped.

Black smoke was rising from the other side of the arena. Once he saw a glimpse of bright orange, he knew exactly what it was.

"Fire."


	18. Chapter 18: The Sorcerer Games Part 3

_**A/N:**_

 ** _I know, I know it's been more than a week since I last posted and I'm so sorry. But I wrote you guys a really long chapter 8k+ words! This is the last chapter of the games and I hope it doesn't go to fast for you guys :( there will be one or two more chapters after this one. I hope you like it :) PLS GIVE ME FEEDBACK! Thx._**

* * *

The fire grew rapidly, consuming everything in its path, not granting mercy to even the smallest of twigs.

They had absolutely no clue where they were going, and they didn't care.

Fight or Flight was what their minds were telling them. The first option was out, there was no way they could fight the fire without magic, so they opted for the second.

Flight.

So they ran, well, if whatever Merlin was doing could be counted as running. It was more like... staggering per say.

He was injured, knife to the shoulder, and losing a lot of blood.

It was bleeding profusely. Merlin clutched onto his left shoulder as he tried to keep up with Adonis.

The sorcerer was good to him, encouraging him to not look back and keep moving, to not stop even when the adrenaline dies down.

That, was exactly what Merlin was living off of at the moment. His adrenaline.

He knew he was growing weaker, knew he wouldn't last long, but the determination to win these games overpowered his reasoning, and that was the only other thing that kept him going.

Everything went past him in a blur as he ran faster than he ever had before. He never ran without a weight lugging behind him or in his arms when he was training, so this was easy, except for the stab wound in his shoulder.

The pain was still absent, but he knew that when the shock in his body subsided, it would be hell.

Adonis yelped when he felt a hot sting on his arm.

He inspected it as he ran to see a burn through his red tunic. The material was smoking and the skin underneath was raw.

He turned around for a moment and saw the fire catching up to them.

The sorcerer looked to his right to see Merlin running along beside him, but judging by the way his face was contorted in pain, there was no way he was going to make it.

But Merlin had to make it.

The warlock thought of using magic, because he knew that without some sort of miracle, they would both fall prey to the fire. However, if he concentrated his energy on shattering his bracelets then who knows what would happen when the king found him breaking the rules. He'd probably kill him on the spot.

Merlin slipped a little on the wet grass but quickly regained his footing. There was no time for mistakes.

The air around him was growing hotter by the minute, and he wasn't sure if it had anything to do with how fast he was running or the fire in general.

"Water!" He heard Adonis shout. "Water!"

Merlin squinted his eyes up and sure enough, just as Adonis had said, there was a river up ahead in the distance. A sparkling, clear river. Water had never looked so tempting.

He picked up his pace and sprinted towards the river, finally letting go of his shoulder to propel himself forward easier. He ignored the protesting pain his arm let out.

They were so close, but of course, something always seemed to happen just before they were off the hook.

He heard the snapping sounds of a trunk breaking and knew what was about to happen.

Merlin turned his head towards Adonis and saw that a tree which was already on fire, was descending down upon him. Merlin acted quick, running to the sorcerer and pushing him to the ground with all his might.

Adonis hit the ground hard and cried out in pain, but it was worth it considering the tree would have demolished him whole.

With the adrenaline pumping now more than ever, Merlin got up and pulled Adonis to his feet.

"W-we c-can't stop now." He stuttered.

The sorcerer just nodded before running past Merlin and pulling him with him. Merlin didn't complain even if he was yanking on his bad arm, all he was concentrating on was his goal.

They heard another tree crack, but they couldn't waste anymore time, and all Merlin could do was pray that they were faster than the tree.

It landed on the ground just beside them, vibrating the earth and making them almost lose their footing.

Merlin grunted in annoyance, and with another tug from Adonis, he yelped.

He was finally feeling the pain of his wound.

Even though his sleeve was black, he knew it was covered in blood. With the rain mixed in, the water droplets that dripped off of his sleeve were red.

Either Adonis chose to ignore him or simply did not hear him, but either way, they kept moving towards the river.

As they were running, Merlin noticed the trees were changing size, to a much more thinner stem. He recognized them as pine.

If the fire reaches the pine trees before they reach the river, it will most definitely be their end. The tree is highly flammable to fire, which will make it travel faster.

He let go of Adonis' hand because not only was it slowing the sorcerer down, it was slowing him down too.

He caught up with his ally and they both bolted the last few meters to their intended destination.

When they were close enough to the edge, they both leapt the rest of the distance, landing in the surprisingly deep river with a splash.

Sound was muffled as he sunk in the water, it was peaceful and soothing. The water felt great against his skin, extremely refreshing. But that soon ended when he felt a tug on his arm, someone was pulling him up.

He gasped for breath once he resurfaced, not just from holding his breath underwater, but from all the running they had endured. It was tiring.

The tips of his feet found the bottom of the river so he was no longer leaning on Adonis. His vision became distorted, and his head started to hurt. The pounding of his heart reverberated throughout his ears. He suddenly felt cold, really cold, and all he could think of was how much his shoulder really hurt. He looked towards Adonis to see the man yelling something in his face, something along the lines of 'dont... eyes.' But Merlin could barely here him, and he didn't listen, because the next thing he knew, everything went black.

* * *

"James," Alex spoke, "give them back their magic."

"No." his father spoke rather harsh, "not yet."

Alex turned worried eyes onto Merlin who had just managed to dodge another tree.

"Father-"

"I said no!" He yelled, actually managing to make lord Mason jump. The Prince noticed that he was on edge too.

"Come on Merlin," he whispered, leaning forward in his seat. "Your almost there."

He gratefully watched as Merlin and Adonis leapt into the river. Alex sighed in relief and silently thanked the gods.

"Okay," he heard his father say, "Now."

* * *

The next time Merlin woke up, it was not in his green comfy bed in his chambers, it was on the cold, hard ground with small pebbles digging into his back. He was confused at first, but once the memories started to resurface, the panic that was there once before welled up again.

He tried to sit up but a flare of pain shot through his shoulder. He clutched onto it with his right hand as his mouth formed an 'o' in a silent scream.

Apparently he wasn't as quiet as he thought because Adonis turned his attention from attending the fire towards the small whimper that had escaped Merlin's throat.

The sorcerer quickly got to his knees and crawled over to the warlock, gently placing his hand on his good shoulder to lay him back down.

"Not such a good idea Merlin, wouldn't want to reopen your wound."

Reopen the wound? Did he not just get stabbed like an hour ago?

He took in his surroundings and finally realized that it was dark, he must have been asleep for half the day.

"What time is it?" He croaked out as his eyes concentrated on the ceiling that evidently didn't seem like existed.

"It's dusk."

Merlin hummed in response, not really having the energy to form proper words. But with the reminder of his wound, he had to force words out.

"What did you mean by 'reopen'?"

A look of confusion washed over Adonis' features but his eyebrows rose when realization dawned.

"Oh, well, when you had passed out in the river my magic came back to me so I used it to fend off the fire. By the time I took you to safety," he gestured to the cave around them, "Your wound had already started to heal itself."

Merlin's eyes narrowed.

"But not fully?"

"No." Adonis spoke bluntly, "They suppressed it once more not a few minutes later." He clenched his jaw.

"This was supposed to be a magical tournament, why do they rarely let us use our magic?"

Merlin had thought about that too for a moment, but he really didn't have a clue.

"I don't know, but it's a good thing they had trained us to use weapons, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted this long."

A small smiled formed on Adonis' face.

"You were that weak, huh?"

Merlin chuckled but it soon turned into a grimace when pain shot through his shoulder.

"Yeah," he breathed, "My magic is kind of my only strong suit."

Adonis scrunched his face in deep concentration.

"I saw you." It was quiet, barely a whisper but the warlock still heard it.

The sorcerer refused to look at him, he was staring at the ground beside Merlin's arm. "When?"

Finally he looked up.

"After the evaluation, I was last in line."

"Oh." Merlin had no clue where this was going.

"Every man that went before and after you, came back looking wrecked. All except for you."

He was still utterly confused. "I'm not following."

Adonis sighed, but not in annoyance.

"You saved the Prince's life, and for some reason you had surpassed your suppressant."

Merlin was quick to reply.

"That was because the bracelet had shattered that morning, it no longer worked."

Adonis seemed to be evaluating him if his scrutinizing gaze was anything to go by.

"Yes, but to have the power to have shattered it in the first place is beyond my knowledge. There's only one I've heard who has the power to do it."

Merlin's heart beat quickened at the obvious hints of his other name. He didn't want Adonis to say it, the king would probably no doubt hear it. Who knows, there may be sorcery involved to hear what the competitors talk about. That itself sent chills up Merlin's spine.

"James..."

Merlin inwardly sighed in relief.

"doesn't even have the power to destroy his own invention."

The warlock tensed. Just when he thought he was off the hook.

"Only Emrys does."

And there it was.

Adonis leaned forward.

"Are you... Emrys?"

The only thing Merlin could do was feign innocence.

"Who's Emrys?"

The sorcerer looked taken aback for a second. Merlin almost smiled, he must have been a better actor than he thought.

He didn't speak for a while, just staring intently into the darkness.

"Hope. Emrys is our only hope."

Merlin knew what he meant, even if Adonis didn't think he did. He didn't ask anymore questions though, just stayed, lying down on his back and staring up into the darkness.

He finally let his mind drift to Camelot. He wondered what Arthur was doing at this exact moment, was it so late that he was already in bed? Was he on a hunting trip? Or was he awake, just sitting by the fire drinking wine from his goblet?

Did he... miss Merlin? No. Merlin thought, absentmindedly shaking his head. That would be ridiculous. Arthur would have moved on already, he would- he would

have already gotten a new servant.

Thinking about being a servant made his mind drift to what had happened earlier that day. He was knighted by Alex, his friend. Even thought the king didn't know it, he was still technically a nobleman now.

Merlin couldn't help but think that when he got kidnapped eight months ago, it was destiny. Part of it.

He learned more about his father's past, found out he had a brother, and met another great Prince. He learned how to fight and fend for himself, not just by anyone, but from the prince of Arudus. And that, could be used to his advantage in Camelot. Of course he wasn't going to say anything or tell Arthur these things, it would just be another thing filed under 'Merlin's secrets'. He may have more muscle now, and is able to wield a sword like no other, but that doesn't change the fact that he is still slim with long limbs. He's still clumsy and awkward. Just... in a new light. Being understated for his magic and fighting skills is what makes him so dangerous.

His thoughts about his life in Camelot and here slowly made him wary. At one point he closed his eyes and that was all it took to sink back into the bottomless pit of sleep.

The next time Merlin woke up, it was to someone screaming his name.

"Merlin!"

His eyes snapped open, and the sound of grunting and metal on metal filled his ears.

He sat up abruptly, looking around for anything that he could use as a weapon.

He paused in his search for a moment, and let his fingers graze over the slit on the arm of his shirt. He slipped a finger inside and to his amazement, it was healed. He was probably asleep when it finished healing.

He was torn out of his thoughts by another scream of his name. He recognized it as Adonis' voice.

He stood up and swiftly turned around, eyes raking over the dirt floor, praying something along the sorts of metal would catch his eye.

Sure enough, the light of the fire reflected the blade of his sword, which was only a few meters away.

He dove for it, retrieving it by the hilt and quickly scrambling up to get out of the cave as soon as possible.

He sprinted, sword jiving up and back down every time his arms swung back and forth on his side. The crunch of his footfalls against the dirty rock hard floor was the only thing he heard other than the panting of his own breaths.

The sound of sword on sword grew louder with every step he took. He increased his speed with each grunt that was emitted from Adonis.

The cave seemed never ending. There were twists and turns but for some odd reason, he couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

It was just now that he noticed he could actually see in the dark cave. He slowed his pace to a jog and looked up. He was met by several balls of fire that were floating just above his head. Every couple of feet there was another.

"Merlin!"

And he was set of in a run once again when Adonis called his name out for the third time. This time, seeming more distressed than the last.

He skidded himself to a stop when he turned along with the curve of the stone wall. He was met by a larger area of a cave, close to the size of his chambers in Arudus. He took a step out of the archway and looked around the vast, clear space. It looked like a hollow dome of rock, except for the tunnels that littered around the wall. Other than the one that he just stepped out of, there were five more evenly placed around the dome.

"Merlin!" Adonis said once more, and that was when the warlock finally took notice of the scene before him.

Adonis was fighting another competitor, one he recognized well enough as Zylen.

There was a body a few feet away from where their fight was taking place in the middle of the cave. He was one of the sorcerers that Merlin hadn't had the chance of meeting, but the warlock still recognized him as Daren. The sight of him was revolting, making Merlin feel slightly queasy. There was a knife embedded in the his eye, his mouth was slack, and there was blood covering half the side of his face. No doubt the last dagger Adonis had.

At this point, Merlin had no idea how many of them were left.

Part of Merlin wanted to go, help his friend out and end this fight, but another part of him, the honorable side, wanted to let them fight it out one on one. Two against one just wasn't fair.

Again the conversation he had with Alex flashed into his mind but he just couldn't do what he asked. As much as it pained him, he needed to sit this one out.

He watched though, observed Adonis' fighting skills. He wasn't like Alex, graceful and proficient, but more quick and a little clumsy.

That, could be his downfall.

Zylen was tall, he had a few inches on Adonis which caused him to beat more downward onto his sword.

Adonis could use that to his advantage, if he could just get a proper opening then with one quick swipe across the abdomen would be all it took to end the other sorcerer.

Something caught Merlin's eye, the color purple.

Another sorcerer emerged from one of the six passage ways. Merlin watched as his eyes became glued to the fight between Adonis and Zylen.

Merlin took another step forward, causing the other man's gaze to shift to him.

A sly grin spread out on the other competitors face as he raised his sword.

The man let out a battle cry and charged towards Merlin.

Merlin rotated his sword once around and charged towards his opponent.

They both met in the middle and swung with all their might.

The clash of their swords sent a painful vibration up the warlocks arms, dissipating as it traveled to the muscles in his back.

They bother quickly swung their swords the other direction in a semi-arc, meeting once again.

The other man was slightly taller than Merlin, and bigger in width too. This will decently be a challenge.

Small grunts escaped their lips every time their swords met together with a clang.

Merlin tried to remember what Alex had taught him.

 _'A sword by itself is just a sword, another weapon. But when you wield that sword, it becomes apart of you. It's not longer a weapon, it's you.'_

His opponent took a quick swipe of his sword towards Merlin's ribcage. The warlock jumped back, the tip of the sword just missing him by an inch.

 _'Clear your mind of everything except the person in front of you.'_

Merlin took the miss as an opening and swiped his sword downwards, managing to slice the man's upper arm before he could bring his sword back around. The sorcerer let out a cry.

 _'Use every part of your body when wielding a sword. Rotate your hips with every swing and never let your guard down. Not even for a moment.'_

The sound of a sword piercing flesh filled Merlin's ears momentarily. It obviously came from the fight going on behind him.

Whether it was Adonis or Zylen getting run through, he didn't know. He couldn't worry about that now.

The man was angry, furious that Merlin got a hit on him. He came back with more vigor.

 _'Never get angry in a sword fight. Rage causes you to make mistakes, makes you blind to everything around you. It limits your view of your opponent and your movements. You lose energy and overexert yourself. It will evidently cause you to fail.'_

The man went for a beat attack, pounding against Merlin's sword.

Right, left, right, left, right, left.

Merlin and Cade had used this technique on each other countless times. All ending the same. The person on the other end of one such attack never came out as the winner.

The heavy repetitive hits on his sword were tiring his arms, weakening them. His hands were clammy and his palms were soaking up with sweat. He held onto his sword in a vice grip, refusing to let it escape his hold. Every hit against his sword caused Merlin to take a tiny step back. If he didn't do something soon, he would be cornered into the wall.

 _'Feel the sword Merlin, be the sword. You are the sword.'_

The heel of Merlin's boot hit the wall. And suddenly, everything seemed to slow down before Merlin's eyes. Not a lot, but just enough for the warlock to track the other man's moves.

When his opponent swung again, Merlin held his sword strong, meeting the others sword with more virility than before and pushing it away. The warlock rotated his left foot to the side, bent his knee slightly and lifted his right leg. When his knee was raised up high enough, he extended it towards his opponent, hitting him in the chest.

The action caused the sorcerer to lose his balance. He stumbled back and fell on his bottom, sliding against the floor.

Merlin stalked towards him just as the sorcerer regained his strength. The man stood up and swung his sword towards the warlock neck.

Merlin bent down, the sword just barely missing the top of his head. He used the momentum of his duck and swiveled around in a complete circle. Knees bent and sword extended, he slashed the shins of his opponents legs.

The man's sword arm immediately went down as he yelled in pain. Merlin took that distraction and quickly thrust up, embedding his sword into the sorcerers gut.

The sword pierced through his abdomen and exited out his upper back.

Merlin ripped his sword out with a grunt before scrambled up to his feet. He watched in dissatisfaction as the man fell to his knees. He wavered there for a moment, eyes wide, blood slipping out the side of his mouth before he collapsed in a heap of limbs. Lifeless.

He ignored the pained feeling in his chest, and rolled down his black sleeves, wiping a good deal of sweat off his forehead.

He took his eyes off the body and looked over to the other occupant in the room.

Adonis was alive and well, except for the small cut that was bleeding on his cheek. The sorcerer was standing over Zylen's dead body, sword still in hand.

They made eye contact. No words were needed for they were each just glad the other was still alive. Glad that their opponent wasn't the one that had defeated them.

It was a long time, heavy breaths filling the silence, before someone spoke.

"You didn't help me."

Merlin bent down and wiped the blood off his sword with the purple tunic that his opponent wore.

"You just watched."

The warlock stood back up to face his ally.

"I couldn't," Merlin looked down. "It wasn't honorable."

There was a long silence that made him a little uncomfortable, but he didn't mind it after all the commotion he had just endured.

"Okay."

It was quiet, but so was the area they were in, so Merlin heard it clearly.

He took his eyes off the floor and furrowed his brows at Adonis.

"What?"

The other man took a few steps forward, only stopping when he was a foot away from the warlock. He bestowed a soft smile and raised a hand to put on his shoulder. He gave his ally a comforting squeeze.

"Merlin," he began, looking intently into his blue cerulean eyes. "Being honorable is the best quality a man can have. You have a true heart my friend, and I would hate to have it broken."

Merlin returned the smile, one he didn't think he'd have the privilege of giving to anyone after this feat. But he did.

They were both snapped out of their small endearment when a horn sounded, echoing through the caves.

"What does that mean?" Merlin asked, looking around to see if anything was different. He turned back around to see Adonis' face. It showed slight fear, but also determination.

"It means the final four, Merlin. There's only four of us left."

There were a few people Merlin hadn't come across yet, but only two of them that he knew. Two sorcerers he dreaded to meet.

"Merek and Elton."

"What?"

Merlin took a deep breath.

"The other two competitors that are left, are Merek and Elton. I'm sure of it."

A confused expression contorted his partners face.

"How do you know?"

"Because, they're both originally from this kingdom."

Whatever Adonis was going to respond with was cut off by the familiar shaking of the ground.

They both braced themselves, scurrying over to the nearest wall for support before the shaking got worse.

The loud sound of rock splitting filled their ears. Debris and small pebbles fell from the ceiling as it opened, light slipped through the cracks, lighting up the area.

Merlin watched as the ground once again turned into sand and the stone of the cave walls he was leaning against began to sink into the ground.

He took a shaky step away from the wall and only managed to stay up for a few seconds before it became to much. He fell to his knees and leaned forward, digging the tips of his nails in the ground to keep himself steady.

Small grains of dirt and small rocks fell on his shirt, head, and just about everywhere on his body, resulting in his backside looking like he was covered in dust and grime.

Merlin had no choice but to inhale the filthy air. Specks got caught In the back of his throat. His coughs turned into choking hacks. He clutched his throat, hoping for the air to clear up soon.

The feeling of warm sun rays soon enveloped his skin. The rest of the cave walls disappeared into the ground, and Sunlight lit up the arena.

Merlin refused to open his eyes. He could feel the heavy specks of dust on his eyelashes and didn't want to get blinded if it happened to slip into his eyelids.

He sat back on his heels and pulled up his shirt. He wiped his eyelids clean the best he could before finally opening them.

He quickly held up a hand to shield the sun. Merlin looked around and wasn't surprised to see no people or stands.

All there was around the arena was the never ending sky that stretched all around. Not a single cloud in sight. Merlin knew exactly what this was, a mirage.

"Merlin."

He turned his head around from his sitting position to see Adonis with only a few patches of dust powder on him, nothing like what was on himself.

The sorcerer held up his hand and pointed somewhere to their left. Merlin followed his gaze.

Merlin had been right, Merek and Elton were the other two left in the games. They were at least 100 feet away.

The warlock could barely make out their figures but it seemed like Merek was helping his partner up.

"Uh, well, I think we actually have a bigger problem." Adonis spoke from behind him.

Merlin's ears perked up at the sound of something unfamiliar to him. It sounded like... rushing water?

Merlin turned his head towards the commotion and widened his eyes in shock.

There was water coming straight at them, a gigantic wave hurling towards them.

"Get up!" Adonis screamed.

Merlin just sat there, staring at the oncoming wave in shock. He had heard from drunkards and people in taverns about the ocean. He learned about how massive waves would build up and destroy boats to pieces, drowning it's victim in the process.

He read about the sea. How it's water consisted of salt. The salt would burn the eyes of humans, the water would leave a sticky residue on skin and stung wounds.

It was obvious that the sorcerers were channeling the water from the ocean, and that's what scared Merlin the most.

It wasn't long before Merlin was being tugged up from under his arms by his partner.

"Merlin." He gritted out, distress all over his voice.

That finally snapped Merlin out of his state of shock. The warlock scrambled to his feet and turned to his right to face the wave.

Adonis began to run but stopped when he only heard one pair of footfalls. He turned around and noticed that Merlin hadn't moved from his spot, he was still staring at the wave as it was getting closer and closer.

"What are you doing!" He yelled, seething inside. "Merlin! Run!"

Merlin turned his head towards the distressed sorcerer.

"You can't outrun the inevitable Adonis." He spoke with no emotion, as if he was a ghost. "The wave will swallow us all, it's just a matter of when." He turned his head back to the oncoming wave. His voice sped up, he was now talking a little faster, more frantic. "It's a matter of how you let it take you. If you run you'll get pushed, but if you go to it..."

"No Merlin, we need to run. Now." He argued.

Merlin shook his head.

"Trust me Adonis, follow my lead and we'll survive this."

And then he took off.

"Merlin!" He screamed, watching as his partner ran towards the wave head on.

Merlin knew what he had to do, it was the only way for him not to get tumbled in the wave.

So he ran, ran towards the oncoming wave.

Not only did Mason train him to hold his breath underwater, but he also taught him tricks to outsmart the wave.

When the wall of salt water was close enough Merlin pushed off with his right leg, extending his arms out in front of him, sword hilt clutched in hand pointing towards the water. He straightened his body and dived straight into the wave.

He cleanly submerged into the water. The moment he went through, he was being pushed back. He let his body go slack, sword still held tightly between both hands. He held his breath, letting the water guide him where it needs to go. He was waiting for it to steady out before reemerging.

The only thing he could do was hope that Adonis had followed his lead.

The force of the water caused his body to change positions, he went from traveling vertically to horizontally.

The human body naturally floats in water whether your living or dead.

It took half a minute for Merlin's body to reach the surface due to the amount of pressure from the moving wave.

When Merlin felt the cool touch of air against the side of his face he flipped himself over onto his back. He felt the rushing water moving underneath his body as he engulfed big breaths of fresh air.

He stayed floating on his back until the water smoothed out to the occasional small wave. He moved slightly till he was no longer floating, but swimming on his own.

He kicked his legs rapidly to stay afloat, moving his arms around as he search for any survivors.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a head emerge from the water.

He looked in that direction and immediately settled his eyes on the garnet tunic. A bad feeling settled in his gut at the sight of that man.

He saw the man's mouth moving and realized that Merek was screaming. When he tried to listen for the words coming out of his mouth he only heard part of what he was saying. 'ton'

It didn't take a genius to know what he was yelling or whom.

"Elton!" He screamed louder.

Merlin's eyes were slightly blurred from the water but he could still see well. They stung and all he wanted to do was run the palms of his hands over his eyes but if he did that it would only get worse.

Another person emerged from the water and Merlin sighed in relief when he recognized who it was.

"Adonis!"

Said sorcerer turned at the sound of his name and gave a cheeky grin when he met Merlin's eyes.

The warlock would've smiled back if it wasn't for the sudden gasp that escaped his throat.

It had been way to long since he had his magic.

He had no time for a reunion because something immediately wrapped around his leg. Merlin quickly started moving his foot around, trying to disentangle himself from whatever it was but it was no use.

He was just about to recite a spell when he was abruptly yanked under the water, losing his sword in the process.

He flailed his lambs in a moment of panic, struggling to get to the surface.

The same thing as before wrapped around his other leg. Merlin bent down and tried to rip off the slippery substance when suddenly his wrists were being wrapped in the tendril like things too.

Merlin pulled his arms up towards himself, pulling with all his strength. The vein in his neck bulged and his head felt like it was going to explode.

His heart was beating furiously, and he wanted to breath, he wanted air so badly. He needed oxygen.

He willed whatever it was to let go of him, but no matter how hard he tried it wouldn't budge.

He began to move crazily. Yanking his feet and arms up, trying so hard to free himself.

 _Emrys, Emrys stop._

Merlin froze.

That was Adonis' voice, and he had just called him Emrys.

 _Adonis_? He spoke back mentally.

 _Emrys, what they are doing is only happening to us. They want their own to be the victors but you can't let that happen. You need to calm down, you need to control your magic. It's been so long since you've used it mentally but you can do it, your strong enough. Calm yourself._

Merlin wanted to ask him how he knew this, how he had known that Merlin's magic could be done without words. How he knew he was Emrys.

But he couldn't do that now, there was no time for this. It was him against a group of sorcerers, and he needed to concentrate all his power on what he was doing.

He calmed himself by clearing his head, just like how Alex had taught him. Breathing in and out would have helped but considering he was underwater, he had to do the best he could.

He concentrated on the water, the quietness around him. The seclusion.

He could see it now, in the expansion of his mind. It was enchanted seaweed that was tightly wrapped around his extremities, keeping him from reemerging. There was the power of four dozen sorcerers that were holding him down.

He focused all of his magic on the plant that was wrapped around him.

He pushed and pushed, willing it to release him with his mind.

He opened his mouth and screamed when pain shot through his head. Although nobody above water could hear it, he was sure he was loud enough for Adonis to hear.

The tendrils wrapped around his arms snapped first, and a moment later the seaweed around his legs gave way.

He immediately floated to the surface and gasped, inhaling as much oxygen as he could. His thoughts instantly strained to Adonis. He had saved his life and was no where in sight.

He reached out with his mind.

 _Adonis_?

 _Emrys, well done._

He ignored the praise and got straight to the point.

 _Where are you?_

 _Do not worry about me._

 _Adonis, You said it was both of us who were trapped under the water, where are you?_

 _I'm not strong enough to get myself out, I can't control my magic with my mind like you can._

 _Tell me where you are and I can help you._

 _You will tire yourself out, and your going to need your magic later._

Merlin ignored his words and started swimming in the direction he had last seen him before he was pulled under.

 _Emrys..._

 _Call me Merlin._

 _Merlin, it's no use. You won't get to me in time. It's okay though, it's meant to be this way._

Merlin began to breath heavily, his eyes began to water and even if he liked to tell himself it was just from the stinging of the salt water, he secretly knew what it really was.

 _No, no it's not. I'll get you out, I pr-_

 _Don't make promises you can't keep._

Merlin slammed his fists down on the water.

 _Goodbye Emrys._

"No!" Merlin screamed.

He swam again, faster now towards the spot he last saw his friend.

He reached it rather quickly and dove immediately down into the salty depths.

He expanded his mind, let in his surroundings, and raked the temporary sea floor until he found who he was looking for.

He dove deeper and swam, swam until the pressure in his skull became to severe.

He latched onto the fabric of his tunic and pulled the sorcerer up with him. The tendrils slid off with no effort.

Merlin held Adonis in his arms as they resurfaced.

"Hey, your safe, your safe, it's okay, you made it." He breathed.

The warlock threaded his finger through the sorcerers fringe. He smiled softly down at Adonis.

"Adonis, wake up."

He shook the sorcerer but his head just lolled back against Merlin's forearm.

His smile soon turned into a frown and he began to shake the man more.

"Adonis, Adonis!"

He breathed heavily through his teeth. He kicked his legs more to stay afloat as he raised a shaky hand to the sorcerers pale neck.

He checked for a pulse, praying to the gods that he was still alive.

"Come on, come on." He whispered the words over and over again.

He felt everywhere around his neck, but there was nothing. He brought his hand to the sorcerers chest and laid his palm flat down on it. Still Nothing.

"Come on!" He screamed. The tears that had welled up before were now falling down his flushed cheeks. It was only then that he saw the tattoo on the man's wrist. He was a Druid.

"Y-you saved my life. T-thank you Adonis. Thank you."

The warlock was startled when his moving feet kicked something solid. He gasped, thinking it was something else, something life threatening, but quickly realized it was only ground. The water around them was sinking into the sand.

His feet landed flat on the ground, and he almost fell from the previous strain on his legs.

He released Adonis and let his body soak up under the water. When the water finally drained completely the body was gone.

It wasn't sand that he stood on this time, it was mud.

He continued to stare at the ground in a daze until the sound of people cheering filled his ears.

He looked up quickly to find the mirage gone. The bright sun wasn't high in the sky anymore but just peeking over the horizon. It was only dawn.

The occupants of the arena stands were standing up and screaming. Merlin looked over at the Royal box and saw Alex on the edge of his seat. James however, was standing up with his arms crossed.

Merlin looked around the field. His eyes quickly landed on the only other competitor left in the arena.

Merek.

Merlin spotted his sword all the way across the arena, embedded blade first in the mud.

He stretched out a hand, about to make it come to him when he felt his magic being suppressed once again.

Merlin inwardly cursed. He took a glance over at Merek and then back towards the sword. Decision made, Merlin bolted towards his sword.

Merek seemed to have had the same idea because when he turned his head towards the other sorcerer, it was to seem him slip and fall into the mud.

Merlin would have laughed at him if the situation were different but unfortunately the warlock slipped too.

He face planted face first in the mud, spat out the substance that had made it into his mouth and quickly got to his feet.

He ran off again towards the gleaming sword.

The crowd was either cheering, "Merek," or "Merlin." But since their names sounded quite similar, it was just one big mess.

Watching Merek fall again was a bad idea since it caused him to make the same mistake.

He whipped his head up and snarled determinedly at the sword. It was only twenty yards away.

He pushed off with his right leg and sprinted for dear life the rest of the distance to the weapon. Both he and Merek were closing in on it, but fortunately, he had the upper hand.

Merlin reached it first and just as he ripped it out of the ground, Merek came sliding through the spot where the sword had once been.

He landed on his back, opened his eyes and stared intently at Merlin with a vicious scowl on his face.

"Congratulations." He spat, leaning up on his elbows.

Merlin raised the sword in a position to strike his opponent.

"Do it." Merek spoke, a sick grin spreading across his face. "Do it!" He screamed.

Merlin was shaking. His muddy hands were sweating intensely.

He could do it.

He could win the games.

He could go back to Camelot.

He could see his mother again, Gaius, Gwen, Arthur.

He could end this game once and for all.

He could make history.

He could be reunited with his brother and see his new friends.

He thought about all he could do. He thought about his promise to Alex, but then he thought about what Adonis had said.

 _'Being honorable is the best quality a man can have. You have a true heart my friend, and I would hate to have it broken.'_

There was no sound coming from the stands, not one person moved a muscle, not one person dared to breathe.

Merlin let out a cry and slammed his sword down.

The crowd gasped.

Merlin took a few shaky breaths before he walked forward and held out his hand towards his enemy.

Merek eyed the sword that was embedded once again in the mood. His eyes traveled back to the warlocks outstretched hand.

He hesitantly lifted his hand up and grasped it.

He looked up into Merlin's bright eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that."

He yanked the outstretched hand, making Merlin tumble to the ground.

Merek stood up and ripped the sword out of the mud.

Merlin coughed as he was sprawled out on his stomach. The warlock lifted himself up with his hands and slowly stood up.

Right as he turned around to face his opponent one last time, he heard the sound of sword piercing through flesh.

Merlin gasped, eyes flying open.

He stared into the eyes of his enemy, his attacker, his worst nightmare, his killer.

The sounds of the crowd screaming and cheering were muffled by his quick heartbeat thudding in his ears.

He adverted his gaze down to the sword that was embedded in his chest. He couldn't feel it with the shock he was currently going through. Even if his magic returned to him it would be too late. He was dead to this world.

Merek ripped the sword out of his chest. He couldn't hear it, couldn't feel it. But he saw it.

Merlin collapsed to his knees, his breathing was becoming uneven.

He reached down inside for his magic, passed the restraints. Once he got a hold of it he allowed himself to have one last final goodbye.

* * *

He let his hand graze over the familiar oak door. His palm traveled all the way down until it rested on the doorknob.

He took a deep breath before opening it.

He was greeted by the sight of Arthur, sleeping in his bed.

Merlin walked over to the blinds and opened them up wide.

"Rise and shine sire." He spoke softly, not at all in his usually cheery voice. This one was calm.

Arthur stirred on the bed, grunting something about Merlin going away.

The warlock smiled softly at his Prince, his best friend, his master, his brother in all but blood.

His other half.

Merlin walked forward and laid a gentle hand on Arthur's bare shoulder.

"Arthur," he said softly, almost pleading. "Please get up, I don't have much time."

The Prince turned around and assessed his servant. When he noticed the distressed look on Merlin's face he sat up abruptly.

"What is it?"

A lone tear slipped down from Merlin's cheek, a tear that didn't go unnoticed by the Prince.

Arthur stood up and looked at Merlin with worry.

"What's wrong Merlin? Why are you crying?"

The warlocks bottom lip trembled.

"I'm here to say goodbye."

Arthur looked confused.

"Goodbye? Merlin wh-." He paused, eyes widening.

"Merlin!" He exclaimed happily before engulfing Merlin in a hug.

Arthur gave a relieved laugh, before putting Merlin at arms length.

"You were kidnapped, gone for eight months, I was sure you were..." he trailed off, not saying the rest.

"Arthur I'm not back."

The Prince's head snapped up at that.

"What do you mean? Your right here." He replied, giving Merlin's shoulders a squeeze.

Merlin just repeatedly shook his.

"No, I'm not, your dreaming. I'm in your dreams."

Arthur let his hands fall down to his sides. Hurt flashed in his facial features.

"What? But... this feels real."

"It's real in a way. This is actually happening except I'm seeing you in a Dream form. Your sleeping here on your bed in Camelot while I'm somewhere else."

"Where are you Merlin? Tell me where you are and I'll come and get you." He breathed.

Merlin shook his head once again.

"Arthur I'm dying, I don't have much time. I only came here to say goodbye."

"No." Now it was Arthur's turn to shake his head. "No you can't be, this is just a dream, like you said."

"This is real in a way, Arthur." Merlin spoke softly, "I-"

Merlin couldn't finish his words due to the coughing fit that interrupted him. He brought his hand up to his mouth and gave out sickening hacks that made Arthur wince.

When he finished coughing he pulled back his hand.

Arthur sucked in a breath when he saw the red crimson blood on Merlin's palm.

"Merlin..."

"I- I don't have much time Arthur. I just came to give you my last words."

His Prince was just staring at him with glistening eyes, ready to hear every word he said.

Merlin took a deep, shuddering breath before speaking.

"Arthur," he began with a watery smile. His Prince returned it. "One day, you'll become the greatest king this land will ever know."

Tears began to trail down his cheeks.

"You'll bring the golden age prophets speak of. You'll help this land prosper, and unite all the lands of Albion. I never once questioned my faith in you or my loyalty. You are my friend, brother, and you'll always be my king. Thank you."

Merlin took a shaky step back and disappeared. Leaving a stunned Arthur behind.

"M-Merlin?"

* * *

Merlin's knees gave way. He crashed into the mud in front of Merek's feet.

The warlock of legends took his last breath.

And then his heart stopped.


	19. Chapter 19:

_**A/N:**_

 _ **(Please Read)**_

 ** _Here we go with the last chapter! I would like to thank you all for sticking with me through this really short journey. It is all thanks to your nice and encouraging reviews that kept me writing this. I would like to say once again that this story took place the year between season two and three when Morgana went missing. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and please, one last review? Comment what you thought of the ending, tell me your favorite part, favorite character, and just lots of things :) it'll make me happy!_**

 ** _Comment!_**

* * *

"He promised me."

It was barely audible, but the Knights heard it nonetheless.

He continued to sit in his wooden chair, slumping in a way that was very undignified for a Prince.

But he didn't care.

Merlin promised him that night, promised him that he wouldn't fight with honor. Alex had warned him, told him that the others in the Games wouldn't grant him mercy. They would just see him as a threat no matter what he did. He had done what was morally forbidden and had gotten close with a competitor. He trained him, talked with him, became friends with him, and there was no doubt that Alex would die for him. That warlock had wormed his way into his heart, and the result? Well, it left him broken.

He just stared out the window, too lost in his own thoughts to really comprehend what he was seeing. The light from the afternoon sun lit up his face, showing off his frown more distinctly.

The Knights continued to be silent for a little while longer. Cade was sitting, slouched on the Prince's bed while Matthew and Lucas had taken a seat around the dinner table.

Cade shifted nervously from his spot on the bed, as a funny and outgoing man, he was always uncomfortable with silence. But now he was antsy, he was bearing important news that he thought Alex should know, even as strange as it was.

He cleared his throat, causing the knights around him to snap out of their thoughts.

"Merek's dead."

The Knights found no joy in his words even though the man had taken someone that meant so much to them. They just couldn't find it in themselves to even feel the slightest bit of relief when all they felt was grief.

It was a long time before Alex finally replied.

"How?" He asked quietly, voice plain and filled with no emotion.

Cade sighed before running a hand through his dirty blonde locks.

"Heart attack."

Alex barked out a humorless chuckle that slightly scared the knight.

"That bastard deserved what he got."

The others couldn't agree more.

Apparently because the Prince talked, the others had deemed it worthy enough to speak.

"So," Lucas spoke out, "no victors then?"

Alex shook his head, seemingly to have finally come out of his shocked state.

"If Merek is truly dead then, I guess not. It's not as if my father cares anyways."

"Is it over?" Matthew asked.

The Prince turned his face around.

"Is what over?"

Matthew gulped, looking away and refusing to meet his Prince's eyes.

"The games." He uttered. "Now that Emrys is... dead, wouldn't that mean the curse is lifted?"

Alex shrugged.

"I don't know." He responded truthfully. "I haven't heard from anyone that he withered up and died yet." He thought for a moment before adding, "it's possible that the aging stopped all together and that he'll live an immortal life from now on. Or he may turn a new age every year like a normal person for all we know."

"What if..."

Alex rounded angry eyes on Lucas so fast it made him stop mid sentence.

"Can we not talk anymore about my father right now?"

The Knights respected the Prince's wishes and didn't bring up the fact that Alex was the one who mentioned him first. They responded by nodding in agreement.

Someone chose that moment to come walking through the doors of Alex's chambers.

All eyes turned towards the creaky wooden door, only to watch as James came in with a small reassuring smile on his face.

That was apparently the wrong thing to do.

Alex stood up, hands clenched in fists, the air around him was practically crackling with anger.

"Are you serious?" The prince gritted out.

James' smile quickly turned into a frown.

"W-what?"

The Prince scoffed.

"What? Are you kidding me? You dare come in here smiling when our comrade, friend, your brother is-" his voice cracked as he fought back the tears. "Is dead."

James took a cautious step forward.

"Alex..."

"No!" The Prince spat, James jumped back. "Look at you." He gestured lamely with his hand. "You look fine, like you don't even care at all what happened today."

James clenched his jaw.

"I do care."

"Really?" Alex looked intently at the sorcerer, "because it seems to me like you don't give a damn."

"Your right Alex." He took a few steps forward, challenging his Prince with his gaze. "I am fine. No. you know what? I'm bloody terrific! You know why? Huh?" James tauntingly pushed on Alex's chest. The Prince stumbled a few steps back but refused to let it get to him, keeping a stern face on the outside no matter how much he was seething in the inside. "You know why I'm not crying to myself for losing my brother? Huh? You wanna know why!"

Alex just continued to stare.

"Because he's not dead!" He screamed.

The Prince stood dumbfounded for a moment, trying to process what his friend had just said.

"What?"

James sighed, lowering his voice so he wasn't yelling anymore.

"Merlin is alive."

Cade immediately jumped off the bed, coming to join his two friends.

"Impossible, we all watched him die James."

The Knight stood there, taking in James' features, trying to read the man in front of him.

"You did something, what did you do?"

James bit his lip and looked away.

"I had to do what was necessary."

Now it was Alex's turn to ask.

"James, what did you do?" He grit out.

The sorcerer just shook his head.

"I did something unforgivable. But it was the only way." He replied.

Lucas and Matthew soon joined them. Now, they all stood in a circle, four pairs of eyes staring intently at James.

"Tell us." Alex commanded.

James let out a choked sob.

"The night before the games I went to Merlin's room when he was sleeping," he began, "I cast a spell on him, a spell that lasts only for a certain amount of time. If ones heartbeat stopped in that range of time, their death would be temporary until someone else is found to take their place."

Cade let out a small gasp.

"Merek."

James nodded, still refusing to meet his comrades eyes.

"I traded Merek's life for Merlin's."

"James," Cade stepped forward, worry etched in his facial features. "With how much magic you wield I have no doubt that you could cast a powerful spell such as that but... what you've done is-" the Knight cursed, grabbing his hair in frustration, "You used dark magic." He finished.

James looked stunned.

"How do you know that?"

Cade froze for a moment, tense, but he quickly relaxed his muscles so as to not look suspicious.

As much as he wanted to tell his friends about his magic, he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea.

"It's pretty obvious James, I mean, if sacrificing someone is used in the spell then it's clearly dark magic."

Cade almost sighed in relief when James bought his excuse.

"Yeah, I- I guess."

"I'm not going to tell you that you did the right thing," Alex began, "but Merlin's alive and that's all that matters to me. So, thank you."

James have his Prince a hesitant smile that didn't reach his eyes.

All Cade could think about was whether or not James would get addicted to using dark magic. He prayed to whatever god was listening that he would not become corrupt.

"So, where's Merlin?"

* * *

He gasped, eyes opening wide.

He sat up abruptly, panting heavily, because the last thing he remembered was getting run through by Merek.

He should be dead but, he was breathing and very much alive. So, why wasn't he dead?

Was it... all just one big dream?

Merlin looked down and immediately ruled that thought out. No, he was still wearing his black long sleeve tunic, trousers, and boots. It couldn't have been a dream.

His clothes were mended back together and had been cleaned thoroughly. No signs of blood, sweat, sand, mud, or water was evident in the fabric. Obviously done by magic.

Merlin hesitantly brought pale, shaky fingers to the bottom of his tunic. He gripped onto the fabric there and pulled up, revealing his torso.

Sure enough, there was a white scar that he was certain he never had before on the middle of his chest.

Just staring at the scar on his chest made the memories resurface.

Granting Merek mercy, offering his hand in support, getting pulled down into the mud and getting back up to face him, only to be run through by his sword.

He felt a sharp pain on his chest and quickly brought his other hand up to the white scar. He rubbed the spot, wondering if the pain was just his imagination.

The same thought as before came rushing through his mind.

He should be a dead man.

He abruptly let go of his shirt when the door to his room opened up.

The last person he expected to see stood in his doorway.

"Gaius?" He gasped, finally registering that he was indeed back in his old room in Camelot.

The old physician's mouth was hanging wide open. Eyes wild and searching his wards face for any sign that this was indeed real.

"M-Merlin?"

"Gaius." He said once again, this time with a big smile gracing his face. He pushed himself off the bed and made his way over to his mentor.

Tears of relief welled up in his eyes.

"Oh my boy." Gains breathed, walking the rest of the distance to meet his ward.

Merlin threw his arms around his father figure and held on to him tightly. Gaius did the same.

Silent tears ran down Gaius' face. It had been way too long since he held the boy in his arms.

Merlin felt his mentor still. He slowly backed out of the embrace and gave the physician a questioning look.

"Gaius?"

The man just quirked an eyebrow and began to awkwardly squeeze his upper arms. He brought his hand down and poked Merlin twice in his abdomen before Merlin squirmed from the sudden ticklish sensation.

"What is it Gaius?" He asked amusedly.

The physician blinked a few times before answering.

"I have no Idea where you've been for the past eight months Merlin, but it seems to me that you are no longer the gangly man you were once before."

Merlin grinned.

"What if I told you that I'm one of the best sword fighters in all of Albion?"

Gains raised both eyebrows.

"Then I'd say you've got a lot of explaining to do."

Merlin chuckled.

"Later. I believe there's someone I need to see."

Gaius smiled. "Right. Seems to me that a certain someone should be expecting his dinner anytime now. Better get on it."

Merlin started to make his way out of his room.

"Of course. I can't leave his Royal Pratness waiting, now can I?"

* * *

Merlin tried to be as inconspicuous as he possibly could while walking down to the kitchens but to his utter disbelief, it seemed as if he couldn't stop the attention no matter what he did.

Those who set their eyes on him gasped in the hallway. Murmurs were whispered from ear to ear. He got a bunch of 'Hello's' and 'where have you been?'

He returned everyone's smiles but told the ones that tried to talk to him that he didn't have the time.

By the time he reached the kitchen, it was just in time to see George carrying a platter of various foods out the door.

"Does this happen to be for the Prince?" Merlin asked as he approached the shocked manservant.

"Y-yes."

Merlin nodded.

"Ah, well, it seems to me that Prince Arthur won't need you in his services anymore. So, if I could just take this off your hands-"

Merlin grabbed the tray, practically having to pry it away from George's grip. "And... there we go. You have a good rest of the day."

He didn't wait for a reply before walking off with the silver platter in his hands. The expression on his face was priceless enough.

He remembered when he used to struggle with carrying the trays to his Prince's room with all the heavy assortments of foods, but now it felt so light in his hands.

Hard work sure did pay off.

He walked through the castle with a small smile on his face. Thankfully, no one stopped to talk to him this time.

He was so giddy with happiness and lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the door to his Prince's chambers.

He halted suddenly and backed up a few steps.

He moved his plate to rest on the forearm of his left arm while he used the other to open the oak door.

Arthur wasn't facing the door when he walked in, he didn't even turn around when the sound of the door clicking open and closed sounded through his chambers. He just stood up facing the window with his arms crossed, looking rather tense.

"Set the tray on the table George. Your dismissed."

Merlin set the tray down but didn't leave the room. He just stood there, waiting for Arthur to do something.

"Your dismissed." Arthur spoke again, his voice sounded so hallow, so empty. It stung Merlin's heart.

The warlock still refused to obey.

"I said, your-"

Arthur froze when he turned around and saw Merlin. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets, and his mouth formed a perfectly shaped 'O.'

Merlin just continued to smile.

"Hello Arthur."

That seemed to snap Arthur out of his thoughts.

He walked forward, reaching the warlock in just a few strides.

He raised a shaky hand and placed it on Merlin's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Am I... dreaming?" He asked.

Merlin shook his head.

"No." _Not this time._

He let of a huff of relief and pulled the warlock closer, bringing him into his arms, locking him in a tight embrace.

Merlin barely had anywhere to move his arms so he just settled for lightly patting Arthur's sides.

If the warlock heard a small sob escape his friends throat, he didn't say anything of it. He wouldn't break this moment for the world.

"It's okay, Arthur, I'm here. I'm right here." He soothed, "I'm not leaving you again."

* * *

Merlin walked into the physician's chambers late that night.

Even though Arthur and him shared one intimate moment, didn't mean that the prince was going to give him the rest of the night off, no, he made him clean his armor, sharpen his swords, and polish his boots. Apparently to Arthur, being kidnapped for eight months meant he was just on a really long vacation.

Nevertheless, he was just glad to be back.

He silently shut the door behind himself before turning around and taking in the dim lit room before him.

He smiled to himself and breathed in the deep sent of mixtures and tonics. This was home.

He made his way quietly to his room, careful not to disturb a sleeping Gaius.

He walked up the few stairs to his room and slipped through the door that was left ajar.

The candle on his beside table lit up with just a thought, illuminating a feint light in the small room.

Merlin closed the door behind him and slowed his pace when he noticed the envelope that lay on his bed.

The green seal of Arudus on the front spiked his interests.

He briskly picked up the envelope and sat down on the edge of his bed.

He carefully pealed open the seal and slipped his nimble fingers inside. He grabbed the parchment and slid the letter out, folding open the paper.

He began to read.

 _Sir Merlin,_

 _I have been informed of your health. I am happy to hear that you are alive and well. It pains me to think that we lost you for a moment, but now all is well, and I'm glad for it. You are probably confused as to why your still alive, but all I have to say for that is it is because your worth it. I am proud to have gotten to know and train such a brilliant man like you. The best decision I made was knighting you. I didn't do it because of your skills with a sword, I did it because you deserve to be so much more than just a servant. This year has been one of my most happiest and I am honored to have met you. You have so much potential and I know you will accomplish many great deeds over the next few years. I never got to say goodbye the way I wanted to, and I wish I could see you but you know, duty calls. Hopefully one day, our lives will cross paths once more._

 _Until we meet again,_

 _Alexander Lockhart_


	20. AUTHORS NOTE

**_A/N:_**

 ** _well a lot of things have now come to my attention after posting that last chapter._**

 ** _For starters, I looked up the name someone commented (gilderoy lockheart) and I will let you know that I have NEVER seen a Harry Potter movie in my life, and had not known it was last name was the last name I chose for Alex. So absolutely nothing in common there._**

 ** _As promised, I will write a sequel that will take place in season 5, all events before that including this will have taken place. The only thing different will be that not only will there be a badass Emrys, we will also have a bamf!merlin in fighting._**

 ** _You will learn What happens to James_**

 ** _Merlin always thinks of good lies to tell his friends where he's been. You will find out what he said soon._**

 ** _Oh and I will have so much fun writing about a group of Knights from both kingdoms! Cade and Gwaine are kind of the rogue Knights so they will surely get along._**

 ** _Loyalites will be tested, secrets will be revealed, and of course there will be a tournament but who's in it? :)_**

 ** _any questions, you can Private Message me, thanks._**


	21. Sequel

A/N:

The sequel had been posted, its called Yin and Yang, go check it out if you want.


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